


Ground Zero

by HiddenBookShelf



Category: Spider-Man: Edge of Time (Video Game), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Drama, Earth TRN, Earth TRN579, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Learning to be Spider-Man, Miles Morales Needs a Hug, Parent-Child Relationship, Peter B. Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-01-01 08:58:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 79,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18332816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenBookShelf/pseuds/HiddenBookShelf
Summary: Alright people, let's do this one more time...Peter B. Parker has effectively and systematically destroyed every relationship in his life by being New York's Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man; a job he didn't ask for and one he frankly doesn't want anymore. That is, until an explosion happens in Brooklyn that will change his life forever as he is suddenly forced to work with an inexperienced Miles Morales and other Spider-people in a desperate attempt to send them home before their time runs out.Basically, the plot of Spider-Man; Into the Spiderverse if they all got sent to Peter B.'s universe instead of Miles'.





	1. We Started at Zero

Chapter 1: We Started at Zero

The evening had been as dull as they came. Maybe it was due to the fact that it wasn’t a full moon, but it seemed crime had taken a night off for once; or, at least the crime that required a masked superhero. Peter B. Parker sat down on the edge of a building. “Good morning, New York,” he said with a long sigh. Fighting crime had lost its luster and his home felt small and empty. He hadn’t even bothered to unpack since he had moved into the tiny, one room apartment.

He sighed and leaned back on his hands, staring up at the sky as the police scanner murmured in his ear. A mugging reported five blocks away; a breaking and entering in a small pizza joint; nothing ground breaking. He listened as officers took each job from him. Where were the masked villains? The crime that only he could handle? Why was he hoping for a tragedy to befall the city? Maybe to keep his mind off of the fact that his life was falling apart at the seams… or, _had_ fallen apart without any hope of sewing it back together?

He reached into his pouch and pulled out his phone. No calls, of course. He had effectively and systematically destroyed every relationship in his life. And the only one that had remained intact had only ended because all things, and people, must die. He took the phone in his hand and squeezed it, stopping just short of adding another crack to the device. He couldn’t afford to buy a new phone that he wasn’t going to use.

Just as he stood to start swinging, the ground began to shake. He spun as a blinding light came from Brooklyn, bathing the late-night sky in a multicolored explosion. The shockwave hit seconds later, throwing him back. He rolled with the wave. It disoriented him for a moment, but he was quick to recover, landing in a low crouch to avoid being thrown from the roof.

As quickly as the event started, it ended, leaving the rest of the city to deal with what had happened. He stood slowly and carefully, as if he was afraid that the tremors would start again. Already the sounds of emergency vehicles were echoing in the streets. “Be careful what you wish for,” he muttered as he ran towards the edge of the building. It didn’t seem like there was catastrophic damage throughout the city. He needed to head to the epicenter of the attack. This was the crisis he had been waiting for, it seemed.

As he swung, he tried to figure out who would have caused the event. He went through the list of his villains who were at large right now. There weren’t many who would be doing something like this. If they wanted his attention, they got it, but this didn’t seem like a good plan. It was too flashy, and it didn’t seem to accomplish anything. The closer he got to the epicenter, the more he saw how powerful the blast had been. And how _weird_ it was.

He landed on a small tower overlooking the center and cocked his head. Instead of a ground zero, like he had been expecting, there seemed to be a part of a building that didn’t seem to belong to anything. There were other bits of structures that fit together like pieces from different jigsaw puzzles. It wasn’t a hollowed-out area. It resembled a kid’s room after a tantrum. “What the hell…?” he whispered, jumping from the vantage point.

His spider senses started buzzing, but it was an odd sensation. It wasn’t warning him from danger. It felt more like a soft vibration in the back of his head. Something was there, but that something wasn’t a threat. “Hello?” he called. The response he got wasn’t someone calling out; it was the sound of someone scrambling through the rubble. Peter hurried towards the sound, only to freeze at what he saw. A body, crushed and destroyed under some rubble. The explosion had clearly done some damage to the poor sap, but that wasn’t what had killed him.

He stood over the body, only managing to tear his eyes away from the corpse when he heard the scrambling again. He looked up. A kid was standing on some rubble above them. “Hey, kid!” Peter called. The child started before he spun and ran. Peter looked between the corpse and where the child had been. There wasn’t anything he could do for the dead guy. Instead, he took off after the kid, running after him. But he had hesitated too long. Either the kid was long gone, or he was hiding well. Peter bit his lip as he looked around the rubble. Whatever had happened, this was an absolute mess. He kicked a bit of brick.

Before he could study it further, he heard the sirens coming. _That was fast…_ he thought. It made sense, but that didn’t mean he liked being forced to leave. He’d have to come back later so he could get a better look at this disaster. He took one last look at the corpse and something caught his eye. Cocking his head, he hurried down back to the body. Clenched in his charred fist was a USB key. Peter squatted and took the key from the corpse. “Alchemax,” he read, cocking his head. He turned the key over in his hand before he shot a web, pulling out of the rubble just before the cops showed up to question him.

When he got far enough away, but close enough to observe the cleanup, Peter squatted on the lip of a building and turned the key over in his hand. It was homemade by the looks of it, but not entirely rudimentary. It looked like something he would make. He watched as the officers found the unrecognizable corpse and frowned as they called out for more lights. Whoever that person was, he had somehow gotten a hold of what looked like an override key. “Override for what?” he mused, turning the device slowly in his hands as if the instructions for how to use the device and for what purpose would be carved somewhere on it.

An ambulance showed up to the scene. There had apparently been two witnesses to this disaster. One was being taken away in a body bag and the other had fled. Peter pocketed the device before jumping into the air to swing. He needed to find the kid and figure out what happened.

By the time morning came, he was exhausted and empty handed. Finding one kid in New York when he had no idea what the boy even looked like was like finding a hay-colored needle in a haystack. He swung into his apartment, landing nimbly on the floor so not as to bother the people below him. The apartment had walls that were paper thin and floors that creaked when a strong draft came through. He pulled off his mask and discarded it and the key onto the mattress on the floor. He web shot the remote to the old box TV stacked on old college textbooks and turned it on to the news. Maybe the police figured out who the corpse was.

Sure enough, as he was digging through the fridge, the topic of the explosion came on. The reporter mostly drabbled on about how authorities were still baffled by the happening and there had been no leads indicating what had caused the explosion or who was behind it. That was all fairly normal. He’d try to contact someone in the police force who could give him more inside information.

“So far, only one victim has been identified. Former Daily Bugle photographer and alleged partner to Spider-Man himself, Peter Parker, was found amongst the rubble this morning.”

Peter froze with a piece of cold pizza halfway to his mouth as the reporter went on to describe that they had expedited dental records in order to try and find someone who had any information about the explosion. Peter jumped onto the mattress, the slice forgotten. The report continued, moving on from his supposed death to say that Spider-man had not been seen anywhere near the scene.

“To add to the odd happenings last night, reports have come in from a Brooklyn that a young boy broke into a Brooklyn home following the explosion. The boy, as of now, has not been caught.”

The news cut to commercial and as if on cue, there was a loud knock on his door. He jumped to his feet and grabbed the mask and key in one smooth motion. Just before the door was kicked open, Peter lunged out the window, sticking to the wall to the left so that he could still hear what was going on.

“Police!” the intruder called.

He clenched his fists as he listened to the police ransack his apartment. Any Spidey gear they would encounter would be explained by his alleged partnership with the web slinger. They would find some things that would indicate that someone had been in the apartment recently, but all they would find would be Peter Parker’s finger prints. Luckily, the window being open and the fact that it was winter in New York meant that the appearance of a cold pizza wouldn’t mean anything.

He turned so that the bottom of his feet and hands held him up with his back to the wall. He rested his head against the wall softly. How could he be dead? He wasn’t dead. He had just eaten. He was cold, he was tired. His first idea was to jump into the window and act like he was looking into an old friend, but he decided against it. They’d find a way to blame this whole thing on him.

The only thing he had left to do was to find that. It couldn’t be a coincidence that just after he had seen a kid at the site, another kid tried to break into a home.

He stayed up in the air, avoiding being seen. If Peter was dead, he’d rather not let Spider-man be seen for a little bit. He needed to be seen soon, though, or people would start to put two and two together… Maybe. He had kept up a good show for a long time. No one was really looking for Peter Parker at that time.

He landed on a building in Brooklyn. They were far enough away from the site to not be noticed by the police. As he jumped from the building to another, his spider senses started buzzing again. It was the same sensation that he had felt the night before. He landed softly on the ground and followed the silent trail like someone playing a game of Hot and Cold by himself. It was a weird feeling. He had never felt his senses act like this before. It felt like someone was holding a vibrating toy to the back of his brain. It didn’t hurt, but it was an itch, and it got stronger the more he walked towards whatever he was heading towards.

He followed the sense, turning when things started getting better. By the time he made it to a private school, his senses felt like his entire brain was vibrating. He looked up at the school. What was so special about it?

His eyes traveled over the building until he spotted a young boy staring up at the dorms as if he was expecting someone to come to a window at any moment. Peter cocked his head and watched the kid. He had on a hood, but Peter could see his face clearly from where he was. The poor thing looked confused and exhausted. He figured if he got close, the kid would freak out; but he needed to get to the bottom of this. Sooner or later they would call MJ about his “death,” if they hadn’t already.

He steeled his nerves and jumped from the pole. “Hey, kid!” he called.

The boy flinched and spun around. He stared at Peter for a moment, his eyes wide, before he turned tail and ran. Peter sighed. Of course, this couldn’t be easy, could it? It _had_ to be difficult. Nothing was ever easy for him. He ran after the kid, firing web to start swinging. The closer he got, the more his senses itched. This brat was the cause of this whole mess. Or at least he was tied to it.

“This isn’t a good look, Pete,” he berated. Spider-man chasing a kid down the street wasn’t going to look good. He’d have to catch the _Bugle_ to see JJ’s reaction to his actions later. Once the kid took a hard left out of the streets into an alleyway, Peter shot web to block the exit and landed in front of him. “Hey, so… Could you _not_ run, please?” he asked, holding his hands up. The boy merely stared at him with wide, terrified eyes. Peter bit his lip and took a step forward. It wasn’t like the kid could go anywhere.

Just as soon as his brain finished that thought, the kid spun to his left and leapt onto the wall. Peter stared, dumbfounded for a moment, as the kid struggled to scramble up the brick. He wasn’t making good headway. His fingers were either not sticking well, or they stuck too much, leaving him to watch the kid fight to get a few feet up. He sighed and grabbed the boy’s ankle. “Alright, kid, come on down and—”

He didn’t have time to finish. As fast as a viper, the boy reached down and grabbed his wrist. As soon as he made contact, electricity surged from his hand through Peter’s body. He let out a loud shout that was cut off as he was thrown back against the adjacent wall. His vision faded to the sound of the boy panicking and his ringtone going off.

 

When he opened his eyes again, it was night. They had moved somewhere, but he didn’t know where. It sounded like it was raining outside. He opened his eyes and looked around, adjusting to the darkness. “Kid…?” he called softly. Who was this kid and why did he have Spider powers and why did he make Peter’s Spider sense freak out in a very odd way?

A sound caught his attention and he turned to his left. The kid was crouched on top of a large crate, watching him like a gargoyle. Peter made no sudden movements so not to scare him again. “You’re not dead,” the child observed.

Peter bit back a mean retort about the kid being obvious. “Yeah. You didn’t kill me.”

The boy shook his head. “But… I _saw_ you die! At the site…”

Peter narrowed his eyes, studying the boy. “The man who died at the site was Peter Parker,” he said carefully.

“ _You’re_ Peter Parker.”

“Am I?” The boy nodded rigorously. Peter sat up slowly. “What did you do to me?” He shrugged. “Kid… What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted softly. “I… went looking for anything to explain this, and I met Spider-man, and there was an explosion. I woke up here, and when I tried to go home, my house was owned by someone else entirely. I… I don’t know what’s happening!”

“Okay… okay…” Peter said, holding his hand up. “Who was this Spider-man? Is he dead?” The kid nodded. “Alright, so… that Peter Parker died, and that’s why I saw my name on the six o’clock news this morning. But…” Before he could say anything else, his phone rang again. He flinched.

“It’s been ringing off the hook for hours,” the boy explained. Peter grabbed the phone and looked down at the caller id. MJ… several dozen calls from MJ. He sighed. She probably thought he was dead and was calling him in a desperate attempt to prove that it wasn’t true… that he wasn’t dead. He looked down at the phone as the call joined the several other missed ones. He sighed and put the phone down. He’d call her back later. “Shouldn’t you get that?” the boy asked.

He shook his head. “Not yet. What’s your name, kid?” The boy turned his head from Peter. “Don’t worry. I’m dead and you’re fine.”

“Miles…”

Peter sighed. “Nice to meet you, Miles,” he muttered, even though it wasn’t nice to meet him. This boy had powers and he apparently had only had them for a very brief time. And now the kid was dealing with some sort of dimension hopping. The universe hadn’t given him time to ease into his new role as a superhero. He picked up the phone. “Don’t… go anywhere, alright?” he said. Miles nodded and stayed crouched without even attempting to move. Peter would have to keep an eye on him. He dialed MJ, bracing himself for the anger.

She answered on the first ring. “Peter?” she gasped.

He said nothing for a moment before he pulled together the courage to speak. They hadn’t spoken in a while. “Hey…” he muttered softly.

“Oh God, Peter! Where are you?”

He knew he shouldn’t feel this way, but he was almost relieved that she sounded so worried. “I’m… not sure,” he admitted softly. “But something happened…”

“I got a phone call saying you were dead!” She sounded choked up and he instantly regretted the selfish feeling of relief he had felt when he heard the worry in her voice.

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked to Miles. This wasn’t going to end well. Of that he was certain. “Yeah, about that… I think I _did_ die… or someone else who was also me… died…” he trailed off, realizing how stupid that sounded. Miles shrugged, confirming his suspicions that his words were a bit off. He didn’t know how else to explain it, though. How was he supposed to tell her that he was sitting with a kid from another universe? How was any of this possible? Sure, he had heard the theories that said that this type of thing was in fact possible, but that didn’t mean that they were ever supposed to collide with their other dimensional counterparts.

“Peter, what’s going on?” she asked.

He sighed, relenting. “I don’t know,” he admitted softly. “I have no idea what’s happening. I have this kid here who may or may not be from another dimension, and I have no idea what to do with him, MJ…” This wasn’t how he wanted to start talking to her again. He hadn’t planned on talking to her again. Their life together was pretty much over. He put his head in his hand, rubbing his forehead. He repeated softly, “I don’t know what to do with him…” _And I can’t go home,_ he added silently. He was dead. Peter Parker was dead. The police would be at his house. If anyone heard him moving up there and came in, how would he explain that another Peter Parker was really the one who had died?

No, it was better to keep everything as quiet as possible. It was best not to freak the people out.

When MJ spoke again, there was hesitation and disbelief in her voice. “Peter… Are you okay?”

“Yeah, no, not really,” he said quietly. “Look, MJ… Just don’t say anything about this to anyone. I… I gotta deal with this kid.”

She sighed deeply. “You can’t go home, can you?” she asked.

He bit his lip. Answering that would lead to some awful things, he was sure. “No… not right now.”

“Then come to my house, Pete… and bring your dimension-hopping kid with you.” And then she hung up without giving him a moment to refuse. He rested his head against the wall behind him.

“She doesn’t believe me,” he muttered as he stood. “But we’ve got a place to stay at least…”

Miles jumped from the crate. He was less than graceful, but Peter didn’t comment on it. He wasn’t about to teach this kid what he was doing wrong. The only concern was getting him home and getting this whole mess sorted out. And then he could get on with his life.


	2. How Did Things Change?

> Chapter Two: How Did Things Change?

“Alright, so explain this to me one more time.”

Peter was walking with Miles as the kid dragged behind him, slowing down to look at everything as if they were window shopping. Peter bit back an annoyed groan every time the boy stopped. He couldn’t blame him. This was a new place where things were familiar, but different. They were garnering a lot of attention. One, Spider-man usually wasn’t seen walking down the streets of Manhattan like a normal person, and two, he usually didn’t have a sidekick. In fact, he _never_ had a sidekick. _At least this will dispel anyone who might have thought that Peter and Spider-Man were the same person,_ he thought with a shrug.

“So, this guy…”

“Kingpin,” Peter said. He was trying to wrap his head around why Kingpin would do this, but figuring out the motives of a guy from another dimension who he barely knew in his own dimension was impossible.

“He built a machine—“

“A super collider,” Peter said as he turned into a shop. Miles jogged to catch up with him. “And it just exploded?”

“Peter said it would destroy everything,” Miles said. He stopped and looked around the shop. Peter had brought them into a costume and toy shop. “What are we doing?”

“You need to cover your face,” he explained. He waved his hand, offering no further explanation. “What happened before the explosion?”

“The Green Goblin came flying in---“

“On his glider,” Peter said with a nod, trying to put an image to the scene that was being described. He picked up what he had come in the store for; a child sized Spider-Man Halloween costume. It was crude, but it would have to do. He didn’t have an actual suit for the kid. He tossed it to Miles, who fumbled to catch it.

“No, he _flew_ in… on his wings. Green Goblin in my world is this massive, scaly monster that looks like he’s from C&M.”

“Dungeons and Dragons?”

“Catacombs and Monsters.”

“That’s a stupid name,” Peter grumbled. He pointed to the costume. “Try that on.”

Miles held up the package and scrutinized it; narrowing his eyes. “Why?”

“Because I’d rather people not know your face. Someone from your world might have come over and it’d be better if they didn’t know you were here.” Miles lifted an eyebrow. “Go,” Peter snapped, pointing to the dressing room. Miles walked away with a soft groan, leaving Peter to scan the merchandise of the shop. He made his way to where he had gotten the costume and frowned as his eyes scanned over the Spider shrine that was his own products. Something caught his eye and his stomach dropped. He picked up a small plush toy and turned it over in his hands, staring down at it like it was something odd and also precious at the same time. He cupped his hands, resting the plush doll in the divot. He held it as gently as one would hold a newborn infant.

And for a moment, he looked at it the same way, too.

“This is ridiculous.”

Peter nearly jumped out of his skin as he spun around to see Miles standing in the ill-fitting costume. He held his arms out. Peter put the doll back and studied the costume. It was probably a size too big, but one size down would most likely be too small. “It looks fine.” He walked to the counter and threw down a twenty. The old man behind the counter smiled up at him. “Just the costume… please,” Peter said.

The man nodded towards the plush dolls. “Cute, aren’t they?”

Peter narrowed his eyes and was glad for the mask that hid his expression. “I guess,” he muttered, suddenly very sheepish. The man pushed the twenty back towards him.

“On the house.” Peter went to argue, but he held up his hand, silencing him. “It’s the least I can do.” He looked past Peter to the boy behind him. “Good luck, son.” Peter took the bill back quietly and nodded to Miles to follow him out.

They walked in silence for a few blocks, garnering even more attention, before Peter brought the subject back up. “So, a D&D Green Goblin comes down and puts your Peter in the beam…”

“And _then_ it just exploded,” Miles finished.

Peter bit his lip. Kingpin had been trying to open a portal to another dimension. He hadn’t only tried, he had succeeded. _But why…?_ He supposed in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter why. What did matter was that they had to figure out how to reverse the process. He looked up at the late evening sky and sighed. They needed whoever built the first one; or his Earth’s equivalent. “Do you know who built it?” he asked.

“Kingpin?” Miles guessed.

Peter shook his head. “No, that’s not right. Kingpin would have just hired someone to do it. He wouldn’t have done it himself.” He put his hands behind his head and listened to the kid scrape his feet on the ground. It was almost as endearing as it was irritating. This kid had a lot to learn about being Spider-Man. _Stop that,_ he berated. _It doesn’t matter how well he’ll be a superhero because come a day or two and he’ll be nothing but a bad memory._ “Alright, kid—“

He was cut off by an earsplitting, offensive sound that sounded almost like a scream that was distorted and bit crushed. Peter spun to see Miles on the ground as his body convulsed and shredded. The moment passed in a heartbeat, but to Peter, that heartbeat of complete and utter helplessness felt like an eternity.

As quickly as it had started, it ended, leaving Miles gasping on the ground. Peter was frozen for a time, staring down at the kid as he whimpered in pain and probably fear. He was used to weird things happening to him. Ever since that spider bite, he had experienced all kinds of terrible and bizarre things. He hardly remembered what it was like to be a terrified kid without any way of knowing what was happening to him and why. Now this poor kid was going through the same thing without any hope of understanding any of it.

He knelt down in front of Miles. “Come on, kid,” he said. The gentleness in his voice surprised him. He hadn’t spoken that gently to anyone in a long time. Miles got into a sitting position and Peter looked over him. He didn’t seem hurt. “You’re okay.”

Miles look up at him and Peter could see the fear in his eyes through the holes on the mask. The panic was clear in his voice and his expression. “What was that?”

 _It’s complicated…_ he thought. He didn’t know how much he wanted to scare Miles, but they had to fix this. And quickly. He sighed. “Probably the fact that you aren’t in your own dimension. These things… they happen.” He stood and helped Miles to his feet, situating him so that he was on his own two feet. He was shaken, but not injured. “We need to hurry.” He didn’t know how long the kid had before the dimension hopping proved fatal. If that was any indication, the death would be beyond their understanding of painful.

The rest of the walk to MJ’s was a guessing game for when the seizure would happen again. He wished they could swing, but this kid was a long way away from actually being able to fly through the city like he could. Peter kept looking back at Miles as if he’d disappear if he let him out of his sight for too long. It was an irrational fear, but this was all new territory for him. He had no idea how to fix this. If they had gone to the world where the collider originated, then this would be easier. The other Spider-Man had been trying to prevent the machine from being turned on. _If anyone else from Miles’ world got sent here, they’d be just as desperate to get home,_ he reasoned, looking down at his feet as he kicked a rock down the street. _Which means they’ll probably be snooping around ground zero. So, drop the kid off at MJ’s and then get over there._

It was a reasonable plan. Miles didn’t seem ready for the big leagues… Or any leagues for that matter.

He paused once they got to the house. She had taken it in the divorce. “Let’s go,” he said and started for the front steps. Miles followed him like the eager puppy he was.

“Are you not married?” he asked.

“No,” Peter said as he rang the doorbell. His tone indicated that he wouldn’t say anything more about it.

Moments later, the door swung open. The breath caught in his throat. Even though her hair was in a messy bun and she looked exhausted with bags under her eyes, she was still the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. He had to fight the urge to tell her as much, though. They had made it clear that whatever they once had could never be rekindled. “I expected you hours ago,” she said, stepping aside to let them in.

“Yeah… My little tagalong can’t swing, so we had to walk,” Peter grumbled. He stepped inside but didn’t move much further in than the foyer. Miles was a bit bolder, stepping inside and removing his shoes. Neither one unmasked. “MJ… This is Miles,” he offered, pointing to the kid.

MJ looked at the child that he had brought into their—her house. He wished that she was wearing a mask because her face showed exactly what she was thinking. She shook her head with a soft sigh and clicked her tongue before turning and leading them inside. “Is she mad at us?” Miles asked quietly.

“No,” Peter whispered back. He pulled off his mask and sighed, running his hand through his hair. “She’s not mad at you.” He motioned to the hallway. “Go… go wash up, kid.” He took a deep breath and stepped inside, finding MJ in the kitchen furiously washing a dish that didn’t seem like it needed to be washed. He hung back on the other side of the counter, shifting his weight between his feet. “So…”

“Dammit, Peter!” she snapped, slamming her hands down into the dishwater. He flinched. “Are you out of your mind?”

He averted her gaze, looking around the house that they had decorated together. She hadn’t changed much about the place. There were no more pictures around the house of them together and she had moved the couch a little, but other than that, not much had changed; physically. “No,” he muttered under his breath. “Maybe… But this isn’t about me…”

“It’s about that kid that you’ve dragged into this.” Her tone was harsh, and he was reminded of the many nights that had ended in them going to bed after a fight like this.

“I didn’t _drag_ him—” he tried.

“You brought him in here dressed in a Spider-Man costume! Is that really the life you want to shove him in to?” She laughed; a harsh, angry sound. “He’s just a _child,_ Pete!”

“I know that!” he snapped back. “You think I wanted him tagging along?” He threw his hands up. She didn’t understand. She wasn’t a superhero like he was. All she could do was try to empathize with his plight, but she never could. This was what had torn them apart. He had only ever done what he thought was right for people and she couldn’t see his actions, as misguided as they may seem, as anything _but_ destructive. “I was a child too,” he added softly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “And look where that got you.” Her tone was gentler, but still angry. “Peter, if you think you can just waltz in here…”

“I didn’t think that,” he argued. He knew that their relationship was over. If there had been any doubt in his mind before now, it was clear that she didn’t want nor need him back. “I just need a place to crash until I find him a way back home.”

“You tell him how Spider-Man ruined your life,” she said quietly. “And tell him to go back to being a normal kid.”

 _It’s not that simple_ , he thought; but he kept those words to himself. If it was easy not using his powers to help others, then of course he would have given it up. He might not have even started. The problem was, if he wasn’t using his powers for good, then what else would he use them for? Fame, fortune, greed, power? He had a plethora of options. When he had moved into that tiny apartment, he had wondered what people would say if they knew that the man who supposedly saved them constantly was living in a run-down apartment. “I have no intention of teaching him anything.”

His senses buzzed and he turned to see Miles standing in the doorway to the bathroom. Peter bit his lip and pulled the mask over his face. “I’m going back to the site,” he said. “If anyone else came over with you, they would want to get back as much as you do. Just… stay here.”

Miles shook his head. “I’m coming. This is _my_ mess.”

“Yeah, it is. Now let the adults clean it up.” He pulled out the override key. Hopefully someone else who came over knew more about this than Miles. He didn’t wait for a protest. He just walked towards the door.

“You’ll get used to him walking out in the middle of a conversation,” MJ said. She had said it loud enough so that he heard it. He slammed the door, shaking the house as he went out. That poor kid. He fired a web and yanked himself into the air. Each pull was strong and powerful as he tried to swing the frustration out. Miles was safe, at least, but he felt like MJ had been unfair to them. He hadn’t _wanted_ to drag a kid into this. Her concern was the same reason he refused to have children with her. Theirs was a relationship that couldn’t harbor kids. Why had she even thought that was a good idea? Clearly, she didn’t, or she wouldn’t have attacked him for bringing Miles into the fold.

“Did she think that our kid would be immune to Spider-Man’s special brand of failure?” he mused aloud as he finished an arc and shot another web. “Or was she under some delusion that having a child would make me stick around more? Or even give up crime fighting?” MJ wasn’t selfish. He knew that. She had wanted him to give it up for her comfort, but also because she knew that his double life had been tearing him apart. He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and every disappointed look she gave him, every date missed, every time he had made her worry ate at him from the inside. Yes, she wanted him to give it up for her, but mostly she wanted that for him.

He shook his head as he landed near the explosion site. There were several police markers, but no late-night police officers getting a good look. They had also set up some stadium lights, but they were turned off. Peter’s senses stayed quiet and dormant as he stalked through the rubble. The corpse was gone, but the site still had a creepy vibe to it. Because of the bits of the buildings from the other dimension, it still resembled a child’s room. He jumped onto one of the buildings and cocked his head slowly.

Was it… in grayscale? He squatted and ran his hand over the brick. The color on his suit interacted with the grey bricks in a weird way; almost like a editing program that singled out one color. He shook his head.

Just then, the flood lights came on, bathing the site in harsh, white lights. He squinted as he stood, but his eyes didn’t leave the odd building. Washed out in light, he could now see that the building was, in fact, in greyscale. Upon closer examination in the light, he noticed that the other building pieces looked like they belonged to different time periods and worlds. He walked carefully. “Hello?” he called.

He froze when he spotted a woman standing near the lights. She was middle-aged and lanky with a pair of wide-rimmed glasses. “Spider-Man?” she called, scrambling through the rubble towards him. “I thought you were dead!”

“I’m getting that a lot lately,” Peter grumbled. He looked at the woman and studied her with scrutiny. Her hair was a mess. “Let me guess… Another dimension?”

She nodded vigorously. “I… I didn’t think it would work!”

He balked and stepped away from her. “ _You_ built the super collider?” Didn’t she realize how dangerous this all was? And how _stupid?_

“Yes, yes, I did, but I hadn’t dreamed that it would work, but this…”

“This is a mess,” Peter snapped. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “You’re dealing with things you don’t understand.”

She smirked slightly. It was a quick gesture, but he let it slide. She didn’t seem scared or nervous about this whole thing. In fact, she seemed utterly fascinated with what had happened. Her next comment ignored his last one. “You wouldn’t have happened to find something the other Spider-Man stole, would you?” she asked carefully. He frowned. “I need it. There are more of us. If we stay in this dimension too long, we’ll die.” As if to confirm her words, her body flickered slightly. “Please.”

He took another step back. Caged and desperate animals were known to lash out. “Tell me how to fix it and I will get every one of you home,” he assured her.

“Only I can fix this,” she snapped. “Give me the key.”

“Why do you need it?” She didn’t answer him; instead opting to turn her head like a child. “Ma’am—”

“Olivia,” she snapped.

Peter sighed. “Olivia… I want to help you… All of you who have come to my world, but I can’t do that without your help. Whatever beef you may have had with the other Spider-Man is not my problem. There are lives at stake. Why do you need the override key?”

“To reverse engineer the specs that are on it. We haven’t much time, Peter!” she snapped. “Give me the key!”

Peter looked at her and narrowed her eyes. She seemed a bit unstable, but not entirely crazy. He pulled the key out of his pocket. “Everyone who got sent here… they go home,” he said quietly.

“Yes, of course! We will leave no man behind! There is a terrible and painful death awaiting anyone who remains here for too long.”

Peter turned the key in his hand. He couldn’t build what was required to be built in the time that Miles and this woman had. They needed salvation in the quickest way possible. He held out the key. “Everyone…”

“…goes home,” she said with a smile as she snatched the key from his hand. She looked over it and smirked. This time, he studied that expression and dread filled his stomach. “Prowler!” she called. Peter’s senses rang out as a man in a dark purple outfit and a cape stepped out from behind one of the buildings. Peter settled back into a ready stand. “We got what we needed. There can be no witnesses.” She waved her hand. “Kill him.”


	3. All Falls Down

> Chapter Three: All Falls Down

Peter figured that he should have seen this coming. It wasn’t like things tended to go his way very often. The moment Olivia told Prowler to murder him, the man in dark purple was on the move, speeding faster than Peter had been expecting. He shot a web and swung at the man, meeting him in mid-lunge. The two fell to the ground and rolled in a wild mess of kicks and punches. The man was powerful. Far more powerful than Peter was expecting. 

Peter kicked Prowler away and fired several shots of wed in an attempt to restrain the man. For a moment, it seemed the plan was working. Prowler stayed on the ground. Peter lifted his head as he stood. and looked for the woman, but she was gone. That was just his luck. They needed to find her. It didn’t matter if she wanted to go home. What _did_ matter was that she didn’t seem willing to get Miles home.

He started to leave, but froze when his spider senses shot to life. Prowler apparently had a way to get out of spider webs. It made sense, he thought as he dodged forward and spun around to face his attacker. Surely this man was used to fighting Spider-Man. What wasn’t good was that Peter had no prior knowledge about this man and what he was capable of. It was his first fight was Prowler, but it wasn’t Prowler’s first fight with him.

As if to emphasize that fact, Prowler opened the claws on his gauntlet, and lunged. Peter fired web, getting out of striking distance. “Look, you and I want the same thing!” Peter called from where he perched on the flood light. “You want to go home, and I want to send you home! We don’t have to fight!          We need to work together on this!”

Prowler clearly didn’t care. He ran up the flood light, leaving Peter no choice but to jump. This was mildly annoying. He wanted to help these people. Villains or not, no one deserved the certain death that was awaiting them. He _thwipped_ webs at the man, trying to glue him to the pole. They were wasting time with this pointless struggle. Prowler dodged effortlessly and met him in the air. He grabbed one of Peter’s arms and twisted with enough force to nearly break it in half. In the resulting confusion and pain, Prowler managed to get his arm around Peter’s throat, cutting off his airway.

They hit the ground with Peter on the bottom and the air left his lungs before Prowler tightened his grip again. Peter struggled, but Prowler rolled, getting on the bottom so that Peter couldn’t find a foothold. He couldn’t believe that he had been overpowered so quickly. Maybe it was because he was a bit out of shape and practice, or maybe the Peter from Miles’ universe was stronger and Prowler had adapted accordingly.

He reached a hand to fire a web; anything to get this man off him, but Prowler was a professional. He held on tight and by the time Peter got his web to grip on something, his vision had gone blurry and his body was starting to give out due to lack of oxygen. He gripped the web as tightly as he could. Just before he released the grip, the web was yanked. The sudden movement surprised both him and Prowler as he was yanked out of the man’s strangling grip.

Peter took a deep breath and gripped the ground as he tried to get oxygen into his body again. There was the sound of struggling behind him, but Peter had to wait for his vision to stop swimming before he turned to see Prowler easily taking care of a young boy in a Spider-man Halloween costume. _Miles?!_

He scrambled to his feet and tackled Prowler to the ground just as he was going for a killing blow. Miles crawled away, gasping for air while Peter threw Prowler to the ground and cocooned him. “Are you out of your mind?” Peter shouted, running after Miles. The fight had changed. Now this wasn’t about him apprehending the Prowler, this was about keeping Miles safe.

The sprinted together. It would only be a matter of time before Prowler came after them. “I wanted to help!” he protested.

“You’re going to get yourself killed!” Peter snapped. “I had it handled!”

“That didn’t look handled to me.”

Peter clenched his fists and made to argue, but the words caught into his throat as Prowler landed in front of them, forcing them to dodge down a back street. “It _is_ handled!” He looked up at the buildings. “We need to get into the air.” He grabbed Miles’ wrist and threw him onto the wall. “Now crawl!”

“I don’t know how to be Spider-Man!”

“Should have thought about that before you came out here!” Peter snapped. He jumped onto the wall and crawled quickly. Miles came after him, but the panic must have gotten too strong because halfway up, his hand got stuck.

“Peter!” he shouted.

Peter froze and looked down. Prowler was gaining on them. For half a second, he debated on leaving Miles for dead. The kid didn’t have what it takes to be Spider-Man; at least not yet. _And if you ditch him now, he’ll never live up to that potential…_

He cursed under his breath and ran down to meet Prowler. “You need to relax, kid!” he shouted as he grabbed Prowler, dragging him away from Miles.

“I-I can’t…!” Miles screamed.

“You can!” He kicked Prowler, sending him to the ground. Peter spun and ran up to Miles. “You _need_ to relax!” he urged. Pulling Miles off could break his arms. He had to do it himself. He grabbed Miles’ shoulder. “Listen to me! You _can_ do this!” _You need to do this!_ He added silently. Prowler was recovering.

Miles shook his head. “Peter… I made a mistake…!”

“Yeah, you did! You screwed up by coming here, but you’re here now. And now you have to trust that your powers are _yours_ and you have to control them.” _Before you get us both killed!_

Suddenly, Miles began slipping. Peter grabbed his wrists and carried him up the side of the building. He threw Miles onto the roof and then landed beside him. “Okay, now the fun begins.” He took off one of his web shooters and gave it to Miles. He hooked his on with shaking hands. “We have to swing. It’s the only way.”

“Swing?” he gasped.

“Yes, swing! You can’t fight and I can’t spend all my time protecting you. We need to lose him.”

“I can’t swing!” Miles argued. Peter tried to remember when he had first swung. It wasn’t under this kind of situation. It had been a joyous occasion. He bit his lip.

“We don’t have time for your doubt. You got powers and now you have to use them.”

Miles shook his head and backed away. “I didn’t _ask_ for these powers!”

“And you think I did?” he retorted. “No one asks to be a superhero! It just happens.” He looked down. Prowler was almost within lunging distance. “We have to go! Aim with your hips. Single tap to shoot, double tap to release.”

Miles shook his head. “I can’t!”

“Then you die here!” Peter didn’t wait for the kid to respond. He grabbed Miles’ clothes and hurled him off the building. He listened to Miles’ scream before he lunged after him. “Swing!” Miles lifted his hand and shot, falling in an arc. Peter closed his eyes and swung after Miles, guiding him through. He was going through the fluid, trying not to panic. Once they had gotten off the building, they had lost Prowler, but Peter wanted to get as much distance between them and him as possible.

Swinging through the city was exhausting, but now that he had someone else with him who didn’t know what he was doing, it was nerve wracking. He kept his eyes forward as Miles found his rhythm. Maybe he had been too harsh on the boy. Maybe he should have been nicer. No one had been there for him when he didn’t know what the hell he was doing. He had to figure this out on his own. Maybe he just thought that since he did it alone, everyone else should.

“Miles… I…”

He didn’t get the apology out. Miles screamed and Peter had no time to stop his own arch before he could turn around and stop Miles’ freefall. His body was convulsing with the same seizure as before. Peter dropped into freefall but shooting webs now would kill him and he didn’t have time to make a net with just one web shooter. As he reached his hand out to shoot a web in a desperate attempt to save him, a white streak flashed in his vision, grabbing Miles from his fall and jumping onto the nearest wall. The new person then took him to the ground and laid him gently down. Peter landed beside them.

“Uh… thanks…” he said to the newcomer. “And you are…?” He looked at Miles’ savior. The costume was white and black with a hood sporting purple webbing on the lining.

She reached up, grabbed her hood and revealing platinum blonde hair. Peter cocked his head. She wasn’t much older than Miles. “Gwen Stacy,” she said, holding out her hand. Peter took it gently. “Peter Parker?”

“I’d rather you not call me that in mixed company…” He looked at the teen and narrowed his eyes. He knew a Gwen Stacy growing up, but things hadn’t gone far with them. “Let me guess… Another dimension?” She nodded. “Great…”

She reached down and helped Miles to his feet. “You don’t seem thrilled about that,” she observed.

“It’s just more people I have to save. How many are there?”

She shrugged before turning to Miles. “You okay, kid?” He nodded shakily. “I don’t know what you two were thinking.”

“He needed to learn to swing,” Peter defended.

“You could have gotten him killed!”

He sighed. “Probably…” he muttered. Now wasn’t the time to be arguing. “We need to get you two to safety before that happens again.” He turned to Miles, who was cradling his arm. He put his hands on Miles’ shoulders, looking over him up and down. He looked shaken, but was uninjured. _I need to do that under better circumstances_. He shook his head. _No, you don’t. You are going to get him killed, Peter,_ he berated. “You’re fine.” Miles didn’t look convinced that he was okay, but he didn’t protest. Peter gently lifted the kid off the ground and put him on his back. This would be faster than walking or teaching Miles to swing on the way there.

They started walking without a word. He’d have to explain to MJ about bringing more to her house. He would also have to explain what he had done to Miles if Gwen decided to tell MJ about what had happened. Gwen followed silently. “Penny for your thoughts?” Peter asked eventually. They would start swinging soon, but he wanted to get Miles’ heart rate down before they got back into the air.

Gwen shook her head. “I probably need a dollar…” She looked to the sky. There was something odd about how she refused to look at him.

“Probably… How’d you get into this business…?”

“Most likely the same way you did. Spider bite, lost someone I cared about… same old story.”

He frowned. “You lost someone, too?” She nodded. “Who was it?”

“My best friend.” Her tone was sharp and implied that she didn’t want to talk about it. He dropped the subject.

“Right…” He aimed and shot, pulling into the air. She followed with grace and they swung. He didn’t know what to do. Now he had no idea how to end this. Without that key, they would have to start from scratch and he had no idea how to build that kind of device; especially not in the amount of time Miles and Gwen had.

When they landed at MJ’s house, Peter put Miles on the ground. He was a little shaky on his feet, but he seemed a lot better. “That… didn’t go well…” Peter muttered.

“Ya think?” Gwen snapped. She rang the doorbell. “This isn’t your house in my dimension.”

“That’s what happens when people die,” Peter said as the door opened, revealing MJ. She looked exhausted. He was used to seeing her that way. There were so many nights she had stayed up until he came home… and sometimes he didn’t come home for a day or two. She crossed her arms.

“Let me guess…” she said, nodding to Gwen. “Another dimension?” Gwen nodded. She sounded exhausted. Peter went to speak, but stopped when he heard someone moving inside the house. Peter cocked his head. “Yeah… about that…”

Peter walked inside and into the living room, freezing when he got there. “What the hell…?” In the living room were two other people. One was a man sitting on the couch. That wasn’t the weird part. The weird thing was that this masked man seemed to have stepped right out of an old detective movie.

The other person was the exact opposite. The girl sitting on a robot was young and looked like she had stepped out of the pages of a manga.

“Who…?”

The man stood. “Peter Parker,” he said, holding his hand out. Peter took it nervously. He half expected the world to implode on itself when they made contact. “I assume you are also Peter?” He nodded, unsure about any of this. So far, he hadn’t really met another Peter. Sure, there was the dead one, but he hadn’t talked to that man. All he knew about him was that he had died and he had also been Spider-Man.

“Hi!” the young girl said with a smile, jumping from the robot. “Name’s Peni Parker!” He looked down at her and frowned. Could these kids get any younger? He closed his eyes and leaned against the doorframe as MJ, Gwen and Miles came to join the gang. Everyone started talking at once, introducing themselves… like this was some kind of meet and greet… like this was _normal._ Nothing was normal about this.

His head began to throb. The Prowler, Miles, Gwen, Olivia and now this Noir character and Peni… All of them were on borrowed time. They may be acting like this was normal, but it wasn’t. None of this was normal! None of this was okay. These people were going to die and he had to save them, but he didn’t even know how!

“Peter?” Miles whispered. Peter flinched and looked down at him, happy that they were both wearing masks. He knew his face was either flushed or pale.

“I lost the key,” he admitted. Luckily, no one else was listening to them. “And I can’t recreate it.”

Miles looked up at him and Peter saw hope in those eyes. It was something he hadn’t seen or felt in a long time. “You know you don’t have to save us all by yourself, right? We’re all here.”

“Can any of you create an interdimensional portal in under 48 hours?” Peter asked.

“Some of us can.”

Peter flinched at the new voice and he spun to see yet another Spider themed superhero standing in the front doorway. Peter narrowed his eyes at their newest Spider-Man. Instead of the classic red and blue, this one was wearing a black suit with a red torso. The eye lenses of the suit seemed to have octagons on them. Everything about the suit seemed harsher and tighter. The way the man walked through the house was also different. He moved with confidence that Peter wasn’t used to seeing; especially lately.

“I can whip something up. I just need a few things.” He pushed past Peter without so much of a look at him. Instead, he stopped in the living room, crossing his arms as he surveyed the gathered Spider convention. “It will have to do.”

Peter stepped forward. “Um, excuse me, but who the hell are you?”

“Peter Parker,” he answered with a shrug. “But you may call me the _Superior_ Spider-Man.” He turned to Peter and he could almost feel the smirk the newest Spider was giving him. “And who are you?”

“Peter… From _this_ world,” he snapped. The others introduced themselves as Peter turned to each of them in turn. This… Maybe this could work, but he didn’t want to get their hopes up too high. When they were finished, he interjected. “How do you plan on saving the multiverse?” he asked.

“We open another portal. But we will need that thing that _you_ lost. I assume someone knows where those idiots took it?”

Peter shook his head, helpless.

“I saw them heading to Fisk Tower,” Gwen offered.

“Does that mean Fisk is here?” Miles asked.

“I hope not…” That was all they needed. His Fisk had been rotting in prison for the past three years, leaving the tower more or less open to an alternate dimension Fisk to take over. He turned as the sound of typing caught his attention. Peni looked like she was running numbers on a small laptop. He left her to that, turning his attention back to Gwen. “Fisk Tower?”

“We could infiltrate it,” she said with a shrug. “We have the manpower now.”

Peter bit his lip. He didn’t know the stories of the other Spider-people gathered and he didn’t want to know them. All he wanted to do was get them home… and not just because he didn’t want them to die. He chewed on the inside of his cheek.

“Why not just let them build it?” Miles asked suddenly. Everyone turned to him and he shifted under the weight of their gazes. “I mean… we all have the same interests. They’ll die if they stay here too long too… Wouldn’t it be easier if we let Olivia do what she needs to do to make the portal?”

“You heard that whole conversation?”

Miles shrugged sheepishly.

“The whelp has a point,” Superior said with a shrug. “Perhaps we let them do the heavy lifting and then take control of the portal once they have it operational.” Peter turned to him and clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn’t like letting the villains get away with their evil schemes… even if those schemes helped him. Superior shrugged. “Given time, I could build the portal we need, but we don’t know how long we have. It is best to allow the ones who have already built this device to build another.”

Peter turned to each Spider in turn. They all seemed hesitant, but okay with the idea. “Alright…”

“Not alright…” Peni whispered. Peter turned to her, having forgot she was even there. Her face was pale, and her lip was quivering as she held back tears. “According to my calculations… If we open another portal in this world… It would be catastrophic.”

Peter’s mouth went dry. He knew it couldn’t be that easy. It never was for him. “How bad are we talking?”

“We’d get home… but this world… this dimension… would cease to exist…”

 


	4. I'm Smarter Than You

> Chapter Four: I'm Smarter Than You

The air in the room suddenly grew heavy. It felt like the tension that had grown could be cut with a knife. Peter scanned his eyes over the gather group of people. He didn’t land on any one Spider for very long and he didn’t take note of their faces. He didn’t want to see them; to process it. This… this was a death sentence. A slow and painful death sentence that none of these people deserved. No one deserved it. He said nothing as he let it sink in. If they chose to open the portal, he’d had to stop them. If they chose to stop the others from opening it, they were choosing their own deaths.

It was Noir who finally stepped forward, taking control of the situation. Out of all the others, he seemed the most mature and the most levelheaded. Superior was mature, but he already seemed a bit too eccentric for his own good. “We have to stop them, then,” Noir said. His voice was calm. Peter was impressed at how steady he was announcing this. He wasn’t just sentencing himself to death. That was probably a lot easier that what he was actually doing. He was sentencing everyone else in that room as well.

Superior stepped forward. “Are you out of your damned mind?” he snapped, throwing his hands towards the other. “Those seizures won’t stop…!”

“We would be selfish to save our own lives at the cost of an entire reality!” Noir argued, interrupting the other Spider midsentence.

“What you are asking is for us to die!”

“Yes, I am!” He motioned to the group. “And is there one among us who disputes that we must do what’s right?” No one moved. Due to the masks covering most of the faces, Peter couldn’t tell if they weren’t moving because of conflict or they actually agreed with Noir.

“You would sacrifice children?” Superior argued.

“I’ll do what must be done!”

Superior made to step forward and Noir sank lower into his knees in a clear ready stance. They were going to fight. “Enough!” Peter snapped, stepping forward between the two. They had two young children here, and one of them had been a normal kid probably a day ago. And then his life was falling apart, and now it was ending. The last thing they needed was to see these people go at each others throats. “Let’s… all calm down and…”  _Get something to eat…_ he finished in his head. How could he possibly expect these people to eat? “Peni… Miles, why don’t you two go outside for a bit, okay? Let the adults talk.”

“I’m not a child,” Miles argued.

“Yes, you are. Gwen, go out there with them,” Peter ordered. She looked like she was going to make an argument, but his tone seemed to have given her pause. She nodded slowly and gathered the two kids. The robot followed after Peni slowly, giving them a look before following its owner out the door, leaving Peter, Noir, Superior and MJ to discuss what the hell they were going to do about this.

Once the children were gone, Superior leaned against the wall. “Are you suggesting that we die here?” he asked.

Peter bit his lip and turned his head away. Yes, he was, but he couldn’t say that. He couldn’t admit to these people that he expected them to die to keep his world safe. He clenched his fists, but Noir saved him from having to respond. He stepped forward. “We can’t expect Peter to sacrifice his world to save  _us._ ”

“And Peter can’t be asking us to die.” Superior turned to him. The lenses on his mask narrowed. “Can he?”

Peter looked away. He didn’t know what to say. “Let’s…” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know…” The words came out strained and forced. “Just… Don’t… don’t go anywhere…” He started for MJ’s bedroom.

“Excuse him…” she said quietly. “There’s… drinks in the fridge.”

“Thank you,” Superior said.

Peter shut the door quietly behind him and sat on the bed, resting his elbows on his knees and grabbing his head. This was impossible! There was no way to win this! He flinched when the door opened, but he didn’t move from the near fetal position. “Pete…?” MJ said. Her voice was soft and gentle; and he hated it. He wanted her to be mad at him. He wanted someone to be mad. Because he wasn’t. “I know this is hard…”

He shook his head with a soft, humorless laugh. “It’s not, though.”

She seemed taken aback when she spoke. “What?” The concern was clear in her voice. She probably thought that he was going insane. Nothing about this was funny. Nothing about this should be easy. “Pete… I understand…”

“No, you don’t!” he snapped suddenly, lashing out. “You don’t understand! It’s  _not_  hard! This is the easiest decision of my career! This isn’t one life against three, or ten, or even a hundred! This is a handful of lives verses an entire dimension! The Trolley Experiment would  _laugh_  at this scenario! It’s not  _hard,_ it’s damn easy; and  _that’s_  the problem!” He stood and rubbed the top of his head nervously. He knew he was being unfair to her. No one should have to go through this.

MJ watched him with a longsuffering gaze. Despite everything that had happened between them, he felt like they both still love each other. She turned away from him. “I…”

“You what?” he snapped.

“Forget it.” He threw his hands up in the air and then fell onto the bed on his back. “You know, it’s  _this_  that drove us apart.”

“Don’t start.”

“No, I  _will_  start! Dammit, Peter, you act like everything is your responsibility!”

“It  _is!”_ He didn’t mean to raise his voice, but it went up. “These powers…”

“…don’t mean you have to do it alone!” she interrupted.

He closed his eyes tightly. This was a tired argument, and it was already exhausting. “MJ… You don’t understand. I’m  _sorry._ ”

She clicked her tongue and he imagined her holding her hands on her hips in the way she always did. She was beautiful when she was angry. “Then talk to me, Peter.”

He wished he could. How could he make her understand that the fact that he wouldn’t think twice about sacrificing these people to save this world was the most troubling thing about this entire scenario? It hurt him to think that he was willing to let other people die so that he could live. “I want to save them.”

“I know you do.” Despite her anger with him, her tone was gentle. Maybe he hadn’t given her enough credit about understanding what it meant to be a superhero who took the weight of the world on his shoulder. Given time, they might have been able to contact any other genius in the world, but the Avengers were out on the west coast and the Fantastic Four were off planet doing heavens knew what. “But it’s not your choice. It’s theirs.”

“What do I do if that other Peter decides to make the machine?” he asked. “Do I stop him? Would that count as killing him?”

She sat on the bed, jostling him a little. He opened his eyes and stared intently at the ceiling. How many times had this happened? Something had gone terribly wrong in his job and he came to her for some advice. For someone who he said had no way of knowing what it meant to be a superhero, she had gotten him through some bad times. “If you have to stop him to save this world, then that’s his choice to make. He knows the consequences of what he’s going to do.”

“I know,” he whispered.  _That doesn’t make this any better…_

Miles stared intently in front of him. Twenty-four hours ago, his biggest concern was making friends at a new school that he didn’t want to be in. His biggest conflict was the fight he had with his father before school that morning. Now he was sitting on the doorsteps leading to the house of a Peter Parker from an alternate universe and his body was slowly falling apart because his atoms would rather not be in the wrong dimension. He buried his face in his hands.

When Gwen came to sit beside him, he flinched, but didn’t look up. The mechanical whirring of the robot also caught his attention, but he still made no move. The two girls began talking; but not about their situation.

“That’s a cool robot,” Gwen said. Her voice was quiet, but he thought he heard it shake a little.

“Thanks. My dad made it.”

Gwen laughed softly. “That’s nice. He must be very smart.”

“He was…”

“Oh…” They were quiet for a moment and Miles couldn’t believe that they could talk. How could they continue on like their world wasn’t falling apart? How were they not bothered by this? Or at least how could they pretend that nothing was wrong. “I’m sorry.”

The  _whirring_  gave a soft, almost sympathetic sound. “It’s okay,” Peni whispered.

Miles clenched his fists. “Why does it matter?” he snapped, lifting his head and glaring at the other two. “Don’t you understand? We’re dead!”

The two girls looked at him and he hated the soft, sympathetic looks they were giving him. “We have a duty—“

_“You_  have a duty!” he retorted, standing. “I didn’t ask for these powers! I didn’t accept the responsibility of being Spider-Man! And now I have to die because of it?”

Gwen stood and Peni put her back to the robot as it stood as well. “Miles...” She held out her hands as if that would somehow calm his down. All it did was make him sick. “No one asks for these powers. They just happen. What we do once we get them is how we are defined. We could use our powers to save ourselves, but we’d doom this world in the process.” He turned away from her. There was no arguing the other side. Even the one who called himself Superior couldn’t make a valid argument for saving their lives at the cost of countless others. “It doesn’t seem right—“

“Or fair,” he added softly.

“Or fair,” she agreed. “But it’s our duty. We were given these powers and what we do with them is who we are. I know this is scary, but in the end, we will have at least done what’s right.”

Right… Nothing about this seemed right. How was it possible that he had gone from a normal teenager to slowly dying in another world in such a brief time? He backed away from them. His last interaction with his father hadn’t gone well. Sure, he had managed to say “I love you” afterward, but their last conversation  _was_  a fight. No one would know what happened to him. There wouldn’t be a body. He would simply die here and everyone would just assume that he had run away. His parents would never stop looking. They would never have closure. They would spend the rest of their lives searching for him in a pointless endeavor to bring him home.

“Miles…?”

He hadn’t realized that he was gasping for air like a fish. Suddenly the mask that Peter had given him felt like it was suffocating him. He grabbed at the mask and tore it from his face. Gwen took a step towards him.

“You need to calm down,” she said as he tried to shake the mask off his now sticky hands. He wanted it gone. He wanted all of this to be over. How was he supposed to react? How were any of them supposed to be handling this? Well? They couldn’t handle this well. This was a death sentence for no crime other than being a Spider-person at the wrong place at the wrong time.

He backed away from them, but Peni stepped forward. “Miles, we get it,” she tried. “This is scary.”

“It’s not scary! It’s horrifying! How can you possibly think this is normal?”

Peni bowed her head and he was reminded that she was younger than he was. She may have more experience being a Spider, but she was still just a kid like he was. “I don’t think it’s normal.” Her voice was soft and shaking. Her tone made his stomach drop. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who was freaking out. “It’s not. No one… wants to die, Miles, but it’s our duty to keep the world safe. We are Spiders and we have to stop them.”

“Even if it means dying,” Gwen said with a nod. She stepped forward and put her hand on Miles’ shoulder, squeezing it gently.

Miles bowed his head. They were right. He hated that he agreed with them. They shouldn’t be doing something that would guarantee their slow and painful deaths. He shook his head and backed away from them. “I… I can’t. I’m sorry.” He turned and started down the steps, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Where are you going?” Gwen called after him.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. He wasn’t going to try and stop them, but he wasn’t about to do anything that would get him killed. Neither Gwen nor Peni followed after him. They probably knew that he couldn’t do anything out there. He couldn’t hurt anyone or mess anything up. It didn’t even matter if he went and got himself killed because he was going to die anyway.

For a while, he wandered aimlessly, keeping his head down as he walked. What had once been fascinating and fun was now terrifying. No one really gave him much mind. The people who were out at this time clearly had no real care for a kid dressed up as Spider-Man in the middle of winter. He kicked the ground as it began to snow. Pausing, he looked up at the sky. He wasn’t one to believe in a higher power, but he hoped there was something out there looking out for them.

 

Once everyone had gone to their respective locations, Superior sat on the couch and stared down at his hands. He hadn’t stolen Peter Parker’s body and cheated death to die here in such an unceremonious way. He knew, of course, why Peter felt the need to bleed his heart out for this cause; but he wasn’t the one who had to perish at the end of this.

“You know I’m right,” the grayscale Peter Parker said. His voice was grating. He sounded like he had stepped out of an old gumshoe movie; and it was irritating.

“Right you may be. That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he grumbled. “Do you know what I’ve lived through to get to this point of my life?”

Noir was staring down at him, watching him intently. “I’d imagine it would be something similar to what the rest of us have had to live through,” he said with a shrug. He sat on the table opposite to Superior.

He laughed softly. What would they think if they knew the truth? Would they accept him for who he was and what he had done, or would they destroy him? He doubted that. Even his Peter had moved accepted what he had done for the last few moments he had left. “You have no idea how I clawed to make it here… only to die because the hand of fate has decided that I should perish due to no fault of my own.”

Noir shrugged. “Well, that seems to be our lives, doesn’t it?”

Superior did nothing to confirm those words. It did seem just like the Parker Luck; and now they were all getting caught in the unluckiness of Peter’s life. He stood, stretching. “I don’t accept it.”

Noir stood in front of him. There would be a fight if they got into it. But he didn’t want to get into it. “You aren’t going to build that machine.”

“I know. I’m going to figure out a way to stabilize it,” he said. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want any of the others to die; so, he had to come up with a way to make sure no one had to die to save the world. “If we can stabilize the machine, we can at least open it long enough to send everyone home.”

Noir studied hm for a moment and he allowed the scrutiny to happen, keeping his eyes forward. The man shook his head slowly. “Do you think you can do it?”

“I’m probably the only person here who can,” he said. He turned and headed for the bedroom Peter had gone into. Without a care of what might be going on in that room, he opened the door and stood in the doorway. Peter was lying on the bed while MJ was pacing the floor. Both stopped whatever they were saying, and Peter bolted up. “Get up. We need to leave. We haven’t much time.”

Peter stood. “Are you going to help us or try to stop us?”

“ _You_ are going to help _me,”_ he explained. “The universe may collapse due to the fact that we are using theories and technologies found in other universes that are not meant to exist here. That would cause catastrophic ramifications.”

Peter nodded slowly. “Yes…?”

Superior rolled his eyes. How Peter Parker had managed to outmatch him again and again was a mystery. “We need to stabilize the machine. It should give us enough time to take control of the beam and send everyone home.”

MJ stepped forward. “And you can do that?”

“My dear, that is _child’s play_ to me. But I need that key that your moronic husband has lost.”

“He’s not—”

“It does not matter.” If those two thought that they could avoid each other, they were wrong. Their relationship was a mere setback. He turned and walked back into the living room in time to see Gwen and Peni stepping back inside.

“What’s up?” Peter asked, coming up behind him,

Gwen stepped forward. “It’s Miles… He’s run off…”


	5. Some Nights

> Chapter Five: Some Nights

“What do you mean, run off?” Peter asked. This wasn’t good. If Miles had run off, then they would have to find him before they did anything. The poor child was probably terrified. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and ran his hands through his hair. “Alright, alright. We need to find him.”

Superior stepped forward, shaking his head. “No,” he said. “I see not why it matters. That key is more important than a mere whelp.”

He scratched his head, ruffling his hair. Yes, getting to key was more important than finding Miles, but he felt like if he had handled everything better, Miles wouldn’t have run off. “You sure you’re not from a different time period?” he asked, trying to deflect. “You talk like you are.”

“Very funny, but no.” He waved his hand, starting for the door. “Either way, we need to focus on what’s more important. The kid can’t hurt anything wandering around and no one is after him, so he should be fine. If we don’t get that key back, the other group will make the portal without any regards to what will happen to this universe. Miles can wait.”

Peter looked among the others. Yes, Superior was right. Miles could wait. He wasn’t in any danger and he couldn’t really get into any danger out there. Still, it was his duty to keep Miles safe. “Alright, here’s what we will do. Superior, you and…” he motioned to Noir. “Grayscale Peter Parker… I don’t know what to call you,” he added under his breath. “…go to Fisk Tower and get the key. Peni, Gwen and I will go after Miles. MJ, you stay here in case he comes back.”

“Roger,” Noir said with a curt nod.

Superior shook his head. “No, not ‘roger.’ What part of the key being more important than the kid don’t you understand?”

“The part where we fail to worry about the child that is under our care. Fisk Tower will require stealth and a small group will have a better chance to infiltrate it, and a larger group can carpet the city faster. The sooner we accomplish both these goals, the sooner we can get started.”

He crossed his arms and looked as if he would make an argument, but he relented with a long sigh. “Fine. You find the brat; we will do that actual work. Come, Noir!”

Noir looked to Peter and they both shrugged. At least someone in this room knew how to take control of this situation. It was good to know that, no matter what, someone would keep them on track. He watched the two leave before leaning on the wall with a soft  _huff_. Miles running off was his fault. No one could deny that. He was the most experienced Spider here and he should have been able to handle the news better than he had. He took a moment to catch his breath before pushing off the wall.

“Alright, team. Let’s go get Miles.” He motioned for Gwen and Peni to follow him and they headed for the door. MJ hurried after him and grabbed his arm as the two others stepped outside.

“Pete…”

“I know,” he said quietly. “But we’ll save them.”

She looked at him, giving him the same look she always gave him; the pleading look that silently begged him to make it home. This wasn’t a dangerous mission, but most of his missions didn’t start out dangerous. They started out harmless; like locating a child. Then, they made a hard left into dangerous territory. “Peter,” she whispered.

He put his hand on her hand where she had grabbed his arm and he squeezed it gently before grabbing his mask and heading out the door, closing it behind him. Gwen was staring at him with a strange look in her eyes. Her expression was unreadable. “Let’s go,” Peter said.

She nodded slowly and put on her own mask. The trio took to the rooftops. “The kid can’t swing,” Gwen called. “He can’t have gotten far.”

Peter agreed silently. He wanted this to be easy, but he didn’t know what he would say to Miles once they found him. He couldn’t comfort him. He couldn’t offer him any support. All he could offer him was the flimsy promise that they would try everything in their power to make sure everyone went home. That was all he had.

They landed on a rooftop and Peter stared out at the city below. Gwen stepped up beside him. “What’s the deal with you and MJ?” she asked quietly.

Peter turned to her. The question was shocking. Most people didn’t just ask the relationship status of someone they didn’t know very well. Sure she probably had a Peter in her world, but he wasn’t that young man. “It’s complicated…” How was he supposed to explain to her all his fears about having kids? Maybe that was the easy part of that conversation. The hard part was explaining how they still loved each other, but they both thought that the other would be better off with someone else.

He jumped from the roof, leaving the conversation behind. He’d rather be dealing with how to handle Miles and his fear than talking about his and MJ’s relationship. He looked over at the web swinging robot and sighed. She was handling this situation milder better than Miles. How long had she been a Spider? This wasn’t a job for kids. He didn’t know how he would have handled it had he started as young as some of these kids were. How many were out there? He shook his head as they swung. He needed to make this right. It wasn’t his fault. None of this could be construed to be his fault, but that didn’t stop him from thinking that it would be his fault if they all died.

 

Miles shoved his hands in his pockets. He should go back. Peter Parker didn’t give up easily. With at least three of them, they would come up with a solution. But he couldn’t bring himself to turn around. Going back would mean accepting that death was an option. Staying out here, even though it would change nothing, felt as if he was actively trying to avoid his death. Helping the others stop the building of the machine would mean bringing about his death faster.

He paused his walk and looked up as he neared a large church. The snow had covered the ground with a an inch or so by that point, leaving him to kick up the fresh power as he entered the church yard. No one had come before him as the ground was still pristine and it was only his footsteps leaving a stain on the ground.

He looked down at the web shooter that he had forgotten on his wrist. What was it like? He had swung on the web once, but that had been a life or death situation and had been terrifying. He wanted to know what it was like to feel the unbridled joy of flying through the air on a web. He made the hand sign and a web shot from the shooter, sticking to one of the spires on the church. He tugged at it, marveling at the strength of the web. He had never seen it up close. The only time he had gotten a look at the webbing was when it was on the news. Usually, it dissolved before anyone had a chance to analyze it.

Deciding to test his strength, he yanked the web, dislodging the brick that it was attached to. Miles dropped the web before he destroyed the wall. Once he let go of the web, he looked down at his hands and clenched his fists before turning to the church. His attempts at wall crawling had gone poorly every time he tried it.

He walked to the church, putting his mask on. Despite hating these powers and wanting to get rid of them, he was fascinated by them. How could he not be? Anyone who had gotten themselves new powers would think it was the coolest thing ever. Sure it was easier if you were the first one to get Spider powers. Maybe he wouldn’t have had such a problem with them had Spider-man not existed in his world.

He paused in front of the brick wall and rested his hand on it. It was cold to the touch and that cold seeped into his hand. He took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to relax. Peter had told him he needed to be calm. How he was supposed to be calm knowing that his death was imminent, he didn’t know, but he stayed there with his hand to the wall and his head bowed until he felt frozen and his heart was no longer pounding.

With a slow breath, he put his other hand on the wall, releasing his breath just as slowly. He pulled back and his fingers stuck. How did this work? Was it as simple as sending a signal from his brain just like if he wanted to grasp something in his hand. He relaxed his hand against the wall and then pulled it back. This time, it didn’t stick. He took his now free hand and reached up as far as it was comfortable and placed his palm back on the brick. Was he strong enough to pull himself up? He hadn’t had the opportunity to test out his newfound strength, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to find out halfway up that he wasn’t strong enough.

He shook his head. Doubt was probably his biggest downfall. If he could somehow dispel doubt from his mind, maybe he could climb that wall.

He put a foot on the wall as well and tested his weight on it. It stuck as if he had a foothold. A smile spread across his face and he stood on the foot hold, taking slow and steady steps. Every time he went to release his grip, he tested it before putting his weight on the new hold.

Several feet up, he paused, hugging the wall and putting his forehead on the brick. The chill coursed through his body, cooling his burning face. This was incredible! How many people in any given universe got to experience this? He took a few more steps, becoming more confident with each step.

Exhilaration filled him as he gained height. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe… he  _could_  be Spider-Man.

_Except your days are numbered and that number isn’t that high…_

Miles froze as that thought tore through his consciousness. He couldn’t reconcile it. He foot slipped and he let out a loud yelp as both his feet slipping and lost their hold. He clawed at the wall, but his hands lost their grip and he pummeled several feet back to the ground, kicking up the thin layer of snow that had started to cover the ground.

He stared up at the sky as snow fell around him, covering him slowly like the weight of the world coming to crush him. He wanted to scream, but couldn’t find the strength to. His life was progressively falling apart faster than he could ever hope to contain it.

The sound of footsteps startled him and he rolled to his side to see a pair of legs heading towards him. He looked up at the person coming towards him, noticing the red mask on the figure. “Hey,” Peter said, squatting behind him. “You okay?”

“I fell,” Miles said as bluntly as possible.

“Yeah… I see that.” He poked Miles’ arm. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t know how he was supposed to answer that. Should he put on a brave face, or should he reveal what a scared, crying child he really was? “No,” he muttered, his voice barely audible through the mask. The sound of snow crunching confused him and he rolled his head to see Peter sitting down on the ground beside him before lowering himself to his back. “What are you doing?”

“You looked comfortable,” Peter said with such a dismissive tone that it bothered Miles. Did he not care at all about what was happening? “So, I’m joining you.”

Miles didn’t even bother reacting to that. Peter could pretend that everything wasn’t falling apart. At the end of this fight, he got to go home. He got to try and make amends in his life. Miles would have to die with the knowledge that he had never lived up to his full potential.

“It sucks, doesn’t it?” Peter asked after a few minutes.

“What sucks?”

“Failure… being scared…” His tone indicated a shrug, leaving Miles feeling even worse.

He scoffed. “What would you know about being scared. You’ve been Spider-man for years. I bet nothing scares you anymore.”

Peter didn’t answer for a couple minutes. Miles, for a moment, thought that perhaps he had fallen asleep; but when he was about to question if Peter had something to say, he spoke. His voice was quiet and his tone gentler than Miles had imagined he could be. “I wish that were true,” he whispered. “I wish nothing scared me anymore. I may be old, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten what it was like to be that scared little kid. I thought maybe I had left that life behind. Maybe… The scared, puny Peter Parker had grown up… but I was wrong.” He sounded almost choked up, but Miles dared not move to see if he was right. What an odd pair the two must make. A grown, slightly overweight Spider-man lying in a snow-covered graveyard with a young boy in a cheap Halloween costume that an old man had given them for no reason other than the goodness of his heart.

“I was _so_ wrong and I thought I could deny that fact. If I didn’t acknowledge that I was terrified, maybe it would go away…” He sighed. “MJ wanted kids… and the thought of raising a kid in this world… this screwed up, Godforsaken world… _That_ scared me more than facing any one of the masked villains I face on the daily.”

Miles closed his eyes. Was that how all parents felt? Did his father go through something similar when his mother was pregnant with him? Did he fear for the little life he was now in charge of? “So…? You left her?”

“She was better off without me,” Peter whispered. “She deserved someone who could give her what she needed… and was willing to make the sacrifice. I could never make her happy.”

The two stayed silent. Miles didn’t know what to say to that. Sure, he could tell Peter that things would work out; that he and MJ should try to make things work. Surely she loved him as much as he loved her. But he couldn’t bring himself to say that. Peter was probably debating on how to tell him that it would be okay; dying wouldn’t be so bad. He should be willing to let himself go for the greater good.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Peter continued at length. “Dying… Dying is scary. It’s _damn_ scary. The thought that every day, every time you walk out the door, you may never come back… it’s terrifying. It freezes me sometimes. Most days, I swing around the city without that worry, but somethings, it creeps up on me and stops me in my tracks.”

Miles closed his eyes tightly to try and stop the tears that were forming. Yes, he understood; but this wasn’t a matter of _might die…_ he was guaranteed to die if they continued on this path.

“I can’t promise that I will save you,” Peter said quietly. “And if you want to quit and walk away from this, I get that. I can’t give you anything other than the promise that I will do whatever it takes to get you and the rest of them home. And if my best isn’t good enough, I’ll at least make it quick.”

Miles wasn’t sure if that last part was a joke or not. He hoped it was, but a part of him figured that it wasn’t. Would Peter joke about something like that. “I can’t do this,” he whispered. “I’m not Spider-Man.”

“Not yet.”

“Yet?” Miles repeated with a sad, humorless chuckle. “I will never have the chance to become Spider-Man.”

Peter sat up slowly and then stood over Miles, looking down at him. “Spider-Man isn’t just about running around shooting web and flying through the air… it’s about doing what’s right, no matter the cost.” He held out his hand and Miles looked up at him. He didn’t want these powers. He didn’t want to _be_ Spider-Man. He wanted to be a normal kid whose biggest problems were classes and making his father proud.

“I could have saved him,” Miles whispered, looking up at Peter. “I stood by and watched him get defeated. I should have gone in there and helped… or something; but I didn’t. I was a bystander when I could have been a hero.”

Peter held out his hand. “It’s okay to be scared… It’s what keeps us alive. If you had gone in there to help… you would have died, too.”

Miles grabbed Peter’s hand and he helped him up. Miles squeezed the hand tightly signaling to Peter that he had something to say. Peter said nothing, seemingly waiting for Miles to speak. He closed his eyes and turned away. “I don’t want to die.”

Peter was silent for a minute. He pulled his hand out of Miles’ grip and took a deep breath. “I know,” he said gently. “And I will do everything in my power… I will fall on that grenade if it means getting you and the rest of them home safely.” He put his hand on Miles’ shoulder. “I swear to you… Whatever it takes…”


	6. Hide and Seek

> Chapter Six: Hide and Seek

Otto rubbed his forehead as he looked at Fisk Tower. This would be a lot easier with a little more people, but no… Peter had to bleed out for a brat who couldn’t handle the responsibility of being Spider-Man. Why did they care? If he couldn’t handle it, he wasn’t worth the trouble. “I understand why they care so much,” he muttered to Noir, “but they could care a little more about getting the key.”

Noir sighed. “You got a chip on your shoulder, Sup?” he asked, firing a web at Fisk Tower. It stuck and he tugged at the line.

Otto snorted, indignant. “I have no chip. I just think our time is better spent in the effort of saving our lives and this reality instead of dividing our forces so that one insignificant child might have the chance to live. If we fail to retrieve this key, no one will have that chance.” He shot his own web and he didn’t bother waiting for Noir to answer before he leapt off the building. Whether or not Noir agreed with him, he didn’t care. These Peters needed to realize that these situations weren’t meant to be easy. They were supposed to be difficult.

He landed on the side of the building and Noir landed nimbly beside him. “Up or down?” He pondered the question. Down would be the best option if their adversaries needed to be discreet, but they had no reason to do that. No one was looking for them. They didn’t even know that there were more Spider people running around.

“Up,” he said.

Noir shrugged and started climbing the building. Otto watched him with mild interest. He looked very out of place; like a black and white character taken out of their movie and put into the real world. What kind of world had he come from? Was his whole world in black and white? Or did he interact with “normal” people? Either scenario left much to be desired. How could one world exist in a perpetual state of greyscale? Did he see only in shades of grey, or could he see color? And if he could see in color, was it overwhelming, or was his world only greyscale to outsiders? There were so many questions and probably very little time to ask any of them.

He shook his head and started up the wall after the enigma. Asking those questions would probably be met with confusion, he thought. It was like asking a blind man with newly found sight what he thought of this new thing. He wouldn’t even have the words to describe it.

He pulled up beside Noir and peered into the building. There was a woman inside typing furiously on a computer. “I would think that she is who we’re looking for.”

Noir made to speak, but they both froze when a hulking man walked into the room, barely fitting through the door that was already made for Wilson Fisk. Otto narrowed his eyes. His own Fisk was a boar of a man in his own right, but this creature nearly put the Hulk to shame in sheer girth. Even outside the window and undetected, his spider senses were pounding his head. He nodded to Noir and they both moved to the roof.

He pulled himself over the lip of the building and perched. The roof had a few armed guards on it with a machine seated in the center. Otto studied it from afar. That was most likely what they were looking for; a miniature super collider. The need for a concentrated portal allowed for a smaller device. Noir tapped him gently on the arm and they both moved forward onto the roof. It would be better not to take out any of the guards. If either of their adversaries tried to call to the guards, they would know something was up when they got no answer.

He and Noir moved like ghosts, sliding through the cluttered air conditioner units and other equipment the littered the roof. The crossing went smoothly and they snuck into the door without detection. Once on the other side of the door, they paused to silently regroup. Neither one of them spoke, but it was like they had been working together their whole lives. Otto went high while Noir stayed on the ground, his hand resting on the hilt of his gun. Otto hoped he didn’t fire it unless 100% unavoidable. Guns were loud and noisy things.

The building was deserted. Either Fisk’s employees cleared out when he was arrested, or the other Fisk had cleared the building. Which ever happened, it was better for them, so Otto didn’t complain about it. He moved his hands over each other as he crawled on the ceiling. It wasn’t long ago that he had been the one watching Peter crawl over everything and he had found it kind of creepy. Now, he was used to fighting Peter Parker, but when they first met, the idea of someone contorting their human body so unnaturally had been spine chilling. Now he was the one crawling with ease on a ceiling. Did Peter ever think his own body was weird? Surely he had. He turned to Noir and the same question popped in his head. Did this Peter also find his own body disconcerting?

Once they got to the end of the hallway, Otto jumped from the ceiling beside Noir, who had relaxed slightly. He scratched the back of his head. There was a soft buzzing; similar to the one he had felt upon first meeting the others. “Odd…” he whispered. He hadn’t felt the sensation after becoming acquainted with the other spiders.

“You feel it too, then,” Noir observed.

“What should we do?”

“If there’s another Spider, we need to figure out who it is and let them in on this, or they’ll ruin our entire operation,” he answered. “Right now, Ol’ Fisk and his crew don’t know how many we got. If they know there’s more of us runn’ about, he’ll boost security.”

Otto nodded. It made sense. “Fine. We go after this new kid and make sure he doesn’t screw this up.” And the game of Hot and Cold began again. Otto let Noir take the lead in their walking tour of the building. He wondered what kind of person they’d be running into. He had thought that this day couldn’t get any weirder, but as far as his life was concerned, things could  _always_  get weirder…

And it did.

Noir paused in his walked just when the buzzing was becoming nearly unbearable. He stopped just short of running into the other. Peering over Noir’s shoulder and about to berate him for stopping, the words left his mouth.

His mind couldn’t quite rationalize what his eyes were seeing. In front of them was a very short… pig… standing on two legs and dressed in a Spider-Man costume.

“What in the fresh hell is this?” Otto asked, dumbfounded.

The pig spun around. “First, rude!” he snapped. The breath left Otto’s lungs. Sure, talking animals weren’t among the oddest things he had ever experienced, but  _this,_ whatever  _it_  was, took the cake by being dressed as Spider-Man. “Second, what are  _you_? Some kind of oversized monkey?”

Noir recovered before Otto. “I am Peter Benjamin Parker, and this is also Peter Parker, though he prefers to be known as The Superior Spider-Man.”

The pig snorted. “Superior to what? The poop found on the bottom of your shoe?”

Otto narrowed his eyes and took a step forward. “Listen here, you swine—“

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, cutting him off.

_What am I doing…? I am arguing with a damned hog!_

“I’m sure your superior to something.”

Otto opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He had no words. There were only a few times in his life that had left him speechless. This was one of those times.

“So, you two gonna explain anything?”

“We’re from another dimension. I am a human, as is Sup here. And you are…?”

“Peter Porker, Spider-Ham.”

“Oh, bloody hell, of course you are,” Otto grumbled.

“Ignore him,” Noir said. “We’re trying to get everyone home.”

Otto shook his head, annoyed. How could this man take this in stride? How was he not just as speechless?  _Why am_ I _speechless?_

Ham nodded. “Makes sense.”

 _What the hell makes sense about any of this?_ Otto thought, but he didn’t want to voice that opinion. He’d rather not lose his composure again with this thing. “And we need an overwrite key that these guys have, so if you could kindly le—”

“Help out? Sure!” Ham said. He started down the hall and Noir and Otto could only look at each other. Noir shrugged and followed, leaving Otto to wonder if perhaps the dimensional travel had caused temporary insanity. Surely there wasn’t another world where talking animals existed. He shook his head and followed the other two, quickly overtaking Ham. He was the leader of this operation.

Ham said nothing beyond an annoyed snort. When they got to the elevator, Otto forced the door open, not bothering to explain anything. He jumped into the shaft and the other two followed without pause. They went down a few floors and repeated the door opening process. Otto stepped in, keeping his steps nimble. His senses were warning him of oncoming danger and the trio leapt into the air vents above them. Otto led the way through the vents until the hulking man passed underneath them with the woman following closely behind with a tablet in her hands.

“How long?” Fisk was asking. His voice was booming, and the anger and fear was apparent in his tone. It seemed that even hulking villains didn’t want to die a common man’s death.

“The portal should be operational within forty-eight hours, Mr. Fisk,” the woman explained. Otto looked down at the tablet. She had a lot of numbers and figures on the screen that would be gibberish for most people.

“Is that enough time?” Fisk snapped. He clenched his fists and to her credit, the woman didn’t even flinch.

“It would be cutting it close, sir, but it should be enough.”

“ Should?” Fisk questioned, echoing Otto’s thoughts. They had less than 48 hours? That wasn’t good… at all. “You need to speed up the process!”

“With all due respect, Mr. Fisk, it isn’t as simple as pulling a switch. Building one of these machines—”

“I don’t want excuses! I want results! This was your machine that got us into this mess, and it better be you who gets us out!” He punctuated his sentence by slamming his fist in the wall, shaking the area. He snorted and spun, leaving the woman to watch him go.

“We should attack,” Ham whispered.

Otto eyed him. “We’d rather they not know we’re here. This is an in and out kind of mission.” The oddness was already wearing off, and that bothered him. Before he could say anything, a metal limb tore through the floor of the vent. The limb grabbed Noir and yanked him through the air duct. Otto crawled away while Ham pushed himself away from the hole.

“Well, well… A spider in my vents,” the woman snapped. “What an odd little creature you are.”

Ham nodded to the hole and Otto shook his head, telling him to stay put.

“You must be so desperate to get home, little spider.”

Noir gasped softly but didn’t answer.

“Too bad you won’t live to see if we succeed! You and your ilk are what caused this mess and you will be the first to pay for your mistakes!”

Ham didn’t wait for Otto to give the order. He leapt out of the vent, leaving Otto alone. “Leave that gray man alone!” Ham snapped. Otto put his face in his hands as the woman spoke in confusion below. This was supposed to be a covert mission. They weren’t supposed to get caught. Why did these two have to be so inadequate at being Spider-Man? He could leave them to die. It wasn’t his job to keep them safe.

 _You know the answer to that,_ he thought begrudgingly. He jumped through the hole to see that the woman in the lab coat was now sporting four arms that weren’t exactly mechanical. They looked almost like air conditioner hoses. “Doctor Octavius, I presume,” Otto said, looking over the woman. His stomach felt like it was doing summersaults. Was this how Peter had felt when he was face to face with his other dimensional counterparts?

She narrowed her eyes through her goggles. “Peter?”

He held out his hands, not even glancing at Noir. “Yes. We have the same goal, Ock… We all  _need_  to get home. Our time is better spent helping each other. If we waste what little time we have left on this petty squabble, we won’t get this done.” He took a step forward. She was smart. She  _had_  to be smart. She was just another version of him. “We should work together on this.”

One of the artificial limbs shot forward, but stopped just short of hitting him. The control was impeccable. He’d love to talk shop with her about the mechanics. “I don’t work with Spiders,” she snapped.

“If you open that portal without taking the proper precautions, you will destroy this reality!” he implored. Ham let out a soft sound that resembled a startled  _oink_. Perhaps he thought they were only trying to save their own skins.

She took Noir and threw him to the ground, using the arm to pin him down. She took a step towards Otto, using the remaining three limbs to raise herself taller than him. “I missed the part where that’s my problem.”

Otto narrowed his eyes. Had he been this cruel when he was a villain? Destroying cities hadn’t been out of his realm… even destroying the Earth wasn’t entirely abhorrent as long as there was something left for him… But this… this destruction of an entire reality was something he was sure even his old self wouldn’t approve of. “Then I suppose you and I must fight, ma’am,” he said.

“Would Peter Parker hit a woman?”

He laughed softly. “Probably not.” He lifted his hands and fired a shot of web from each shooter. Both strands passed effortlessly by her and stuck to either wall of the hallway. He jumped into the air and yanked himself forward, slamming into the woman and throwing her forward. Noir scrambled away from her as Otto slammed his fist down in hopes to end this swiftly. She dodged and used her limbs to throw him aside.

He hardly felt the wall when he slammed into it. Luckily, Peter’s body was durable. While he took a moment to get his composure, the small Spider-thing lunged forward. All Otto could do was stare in even more dumbfounded horror at what he was seeing. For some reason, he had thought that maybe this talking pig didn’t have any Spider powers. What a strange place the multiverse must be.

He stood and shook his head to clear it before lunging back into the mess of limbs and webs. It felt weird being on this side of the confrontation. Usually, he was the one with artificial limbs, angrily trying to catch a young man who had near precognition abilities that were as powerful as they were infuriating.

Speaking of which…

His spider senses shot up and he whipped around, grabbing the arm that was coming at him. He threw her down the hall. “We need the key!” he snapped to Noir. He’d rather send Ham off on his own, but unfortunately, the pig had no idea what they were looking for. “The hog and I will handle this!”

Ock stopped her flight down the hall with her limbs and started running back towards them. Noir nodded. “Meet me back at MJ’s house,” he hissed and then spun, fleeing down the hall back towards the lab that they had seen earlier.

Ock lunged after him, but Otto tackled her to the ground. “You know, this all could have been avoided!” he snapped, aiming a punch to her face. She rolled away and threw him to the side.

“You started this disaster!”

“You and I could work together,” Otto retorted as he landed on the wall. Before Ock could give him another shiner, Ham jumped at her. The way he moved was odd. It was still very human-like, and he seemed to know martial arts… surprisingly.

Ock grabbed Ham by the throat. “Enough!” she snapped, dangling the hog. “And what manner of beast are you? A pig bitten by a radioactive spider?”

Ham snorted. “No!” he said, indignant. Otto didn’t interfere. He was curious about the answer to this question as well. “I am a  _spider_  who was bitten by a radioactive  _pig!”_

Ock seemed genuinely taken aback by that explanation, leaving Otto the chance to lunge forward. She dropped Ham as he tackled her to the ground, webbing her arms to apprehend her. Ham came to assist, but he was caught off guard. Ock grabbed the pig and lifted him off the ground, slamming him against the wall. In the ensuing confusion, his spider sense was a heartbeat too slow.

Her artificial limb wrapped around his throat, constricting like a snake. Otto clawed at the limb, but she was twirling it around him, crushing his body in a cold embrace. She used her other free limb to pull off the webbing that he had covered her in. She elevated them off the ground as his vision began to blur. “This could have been avoided,” she said, throwing his words back at him. “But you had to come here instead of accepting your fate to die slowly with the rest of this world. It’s a shame… Perhaps we could have studied your demise. For scientific purposes.”

The gunshot froze everything. The arm constricting him fell limp and he dropped to the ground, gasping for breath. Noir was at his side in an instant, kneeling in front of him. “Let’s scram,” he said urgently, putting Otto’s arm over his shoulder.

He looked to the man in confusion. This wasn’t part of the plan! Noir was supposed to get the key and get out of there! When Otto said that no life was more important than this mission, he also meant his own! “You… should have fled!” The key was more important than any one life that could be lost.

“Hush up,” Noir said, helping him to his feet. “We need to go!”

Otto made to berate him, but he never got the words out. Suddenly, Noir gasped and stumbled back, leaving Otto to fall onto the wall beside him. His spider sense went off a moment too late to warn him as Ock’s artificial limb tore through Noir’s chest, leaving him gasping in pain. She ripped the limb from Noir’s body and grey blood gushed from the fresh wound. Otto turned and went to lunge but stopped before he could move. If he engaged, Noir would die. The best option would leave the man for dead, take the stolen key, and run. No single life should jeopardize their mission. He looked down at the grey pool that was spreading around Noir’s body.

“Damn it…!” He lifted the injured man. “Pig! Cover us!” he shouted and ran towards the end of the hallway where he lunged through the window capping the hall; leaving behind the sound of mechanical limbs and pig squeals.

 


	7. Welcome to the Freak Show

> Chapter 7: Welcome to the Freak Show

“They should be back by now,” Peter muttered, pacing the living room. Yes, they had sent Superior and Noir into enemy territory, but he had expected them back by now.

“Sit down,” Gwen said from where she was sitting on the couch. Miles was lying on the floor while Peni was playing Uno with MJ and the robot. Peter didn’t even want to know how that was going. “Your pacing isn’t going to make them get here any faster.”

Peter sighed, but MJ didn’t come to either of their defense. Gwen didn’t know him like MJ did. Unfortunately, when he wasn’t out there proactively getting something done, it was his fault if something happened. “I know,” he admitted, “but I really wish we had communication devices.”

“I can work on that,” Peni offered. “You got any old phones lying around?”

“In my apartment, yeah… But I’m kind of dead at the moment, so getting into there might be a bit of an issue.” Gwen didn’t seem to appreciate his words. She stood and headed for the kitchen. Peter sighed and turned to MJ. She motioned for him to follow her and he nodded. “Do you need anything?” he asked as he stepped onto the tile floor. This kitchen held a lot of memories. They had saved up for a while to buy this house and when the divorce happened, he had relinquished the house to MJ. She had been responsible for their finances. Being a superhero didn’t leave much time to make a living wage in New York.

“Just water,” Gwen said. He nodded and moved to the cabinet with the glasses. Luckily, MJ hadn’t moved too much around in the house. Maybe she hadn’t been ready to move on.  _Wishful thinking,_  he thought sadly as he filled to chosen glass and handed it off to the white-clad spider. “So… what happened?”

“Life happened,” he answered, jumping onto the counter to sit. He felt like dodging the question further would be worse than answering it. “You’re young, and perhaps you don’t know what it means to be a superhero and try to live an adult life.” She made to retort, but he held up his hand. “I get it. I was the original teen superhero. I know it’s tough trying to balance a normal life with saving the world, but there’s a whole laundry list of new challenges when you try to be an adult.” He shrugged. “Things get testy and when you realize that being a hero brings you and your partner to different conclusions about life.” Maybe they could all learn from him.

_What kind of lesson do you want to teach them, Peter? That they should be hermits and not let anyone else in? Because that’s the only way you’d be happy right now._

_Happy isn’t what I would call that,_  he berated himself. “I’m sure things will work out for you, though,” he assured her, hoping that he hadn’t scared her off of being a hero or trying to have a normal life at the same time.

Gwen looked down at her glass, staring down at the water. Peter watched her. She looked like she was avoiding looking at him. “Peter… Back in my world—”

She didn’t have time to finish. The front door was opened harshly and Peter’s spider senses went up. It was an odd sensation. It wasn’t warning him of immediate danger, but it was telling him that something was very wrong.

“Bring him inside!” MJ snapped. Peter jumped off the counter and hurried into the living room in time to see Superior putting Noir on the couch just as MJ put a blanket under him. At first, Peter didn’t see what the problem was, but then he noticed the grey liquid dripping onto the floor from Noir’s hand.

“Is that…”

“Blood?” Superior snapped. “Yes.” He grabbed Noir’s shirt and pulled it up, revealing a nasty stab wound on his chest. “We need towels!”

“He needs a hospital!” Gwen urged.

“Yeah, let’s just call 911,” Superior retorted. His tone was scathing and bitter. “And you can explain to them how this guy is bleeding grey blood! Get the damn towels!”

Peter didn’t wait to see Gwen’s reaction. He took off to the bathroom and grabbed towels of different sizes before running back and handing them to Superior. He snatched them and applied pressure to the wound. It was like putting a bandage on a bullet wound. None of them were doctors. Noir would die without one. “Gwen, get the kids outside.” If Miles was already freaking out about this whole thing, seeing them struggle to stabilize Noir wouldn’t help his anxiety and fear.

Gwen didn’t answer. He turned to her to question what was going on. She was staring at Noir, her eyes wide and her hands shaking.

“Gwen!” Peter shouted, shaking her from her stupor. She turned to him. “Get Miles and Peni outside so we can deal with this.” She nodded without speaking and ushered the kids out of the room. Once they were gone, Peter paced the floor while Superior and MJ worked on Noir. He felt utterly useless. This was way beyond his level of expertise.

“Stop pacing!” Superior barked. Peter froze mid-step. Why did these people hate pacing so much? Instead of arguing, he sighed and looked back at Noir. “Is there anyone we can call?”

“The Avengers are out of town,” Peter said quietly. “And SHIELD… well… they won’t exactly help us right now.” He leaned against the wall. Maybe that would calm their nerves more than the pacing. He didn’t know why he was even bothering to accommodate them. “What happened?”

Superior didn’t answer for a moment. He put his hand on the towel and Noir gasped softly. Peter looked away. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was watching himself die. This was all brand new territory and he didn’t want to be anywhere near it. “If we had more people on our mission,  _this_  wouldn’t have happened,” Superior said at length. He didn’t look up from the wound on Noir’s chest, but he seemed to be calming down. “Did you at least get the kid back?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He took his hands off the wound. “But Gwen was right. We need to get him real medical attention. His healing factor doesn’t seem to be working quick enough.”

Peter sighed and bowed his head, running through the possibilities of who they could call without giving away too much. Anyone they called would have to know who he was. MJ stood and left the room, leaving them to ponder what to do. “Did you get the key?” Peter asked after a moment. Maybe there was so good news to be had here.

“Of course I did. But, you didn’t tell me that Doc Ock was here.”

Peter started and turned to the others. His own Ock was rotting in prison and had been for several years. “He is?”

 _“She_  is, yes.”

Peter sighed and closed his eyes. That made sense. The woman that he had encountered was probably who Sup was talking about. “I didn’t know.”

“Clearly.” He stood. “Are you sure you are ready to lead this team?”

“No, I’m not.” He didn’t want to pretend like he knew what he was doing. None of them did, really. He decided not to point out the fact that his team had come back in one piece, but Superior had gotten someone her.

Superior sighed and turned his back to Peter, looking down at the patient. “If he dies…”

“Then it’s my fault,” Peter finished. He didn’t need Superior telling him that he had screwed up. No one had to remind him how terrible he was at being Spider-Man. He looked down at Noir and his stomach twisted. The pain was apparent in his breathing, despite being unconscious.

MJ returned a few moments later. “I called someone.”

“Who?” He felt like he knew who, but he wanted to hear it from her.

“Harry.”

Peter sighed. If there was any indication that they had hit rock bottom, this was it. Neither one of them had spoken to Harry in quite some time, but it made sense that she had called him. He had medical equipment that could help Noir and he knew Peter’s secret. They had parted ways on bad terms, but since secret hadn’t gotten out, he had assumed that at least Harry had been able to let bygones be bygones. “Fine.” He sat on the counter separating the living room from the kitchen and closed his eyes. This day couldn’t get any worse.

Just as that thought left his mind, as if the universe wanted to prove him wrong about everything, the door opened. “Next time you high tail it, you’d best leave an exit strategy!”

Peter turned to see who had spoken. He didn’t recognize the voice. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. Standing in the hallway leading to the front door was a pig dressed in a Spider-man costume. Peter jumped from the counter and took a few steps back. Miles, Gwen and Peni were standing behind the hog, looking just as confused as Peter felt.

“Uhhh…”

Before he could question what was going on, Superior was on his feet and advancing towards the costumed animal. “Don’t you  _dare_  come here with that!” he snapped. “This mess is  _your_  fault! If you had simply gone when I told you, this man would be fine!”

The pig snorted. “Excuse you? You’re the one who hesitated!”

“You ruined our stealth mission!”

“Enough!” Peter snapped, stepping between them. “First, what are you?” he asked the pig.

He growled softly. “I am Peter Porker, the Spider-Ham.”

Peter froze and cocked his head. After a moment, he shook his head like he was trying to shake off something. He pointed to the pig like he was about to say something, but thought against it. Instead, he ended up pointing dumbfounded at the pig. “You know… I’m… going to allow that,” he muttered softly, finally finding his words. He turned his attention to Superior. That mess was easier to deal with than whatever was going on with the animal. “How is this his fault, again?” he asked.

“He ruined everything!”

“I did not!”

Peter put his hand to his forehead, rubbing his eyes. He held up a hand. “Alright, you two that’s enough.” He turned to Ham. “And you’re from another dimension?”

“No, I’m from yours,” Ham grumbled. Of course… everyone had to be a clown. What else was universal amongst them? Ham turned and jumped onto the other couch, crossing his arms with an annoyed snort. No one moved for a moment. It seemed everyone was confused about their new partner.

Peter shook his head, breaking the silence, and asked for the key. As it was handed to him, he turned to Peni. “Can your robot analyze this?” he asked, handing it over. She took it and then offered it to the robot. The two took to a corner while the others found other spots to settle down.  

Peter walked to the counter separating the kitchen from the living room and leaned against the counter, pushing on the granite. He had to stop himself before he cracked it. A hand was placed on his back and he flinched, turning to see MJ looking at him with concern in her eyes. “I’m fine,” he lied.

“I know,” she lied back. She ran her hand down his back, tracing his spine gently. He dared to look back at the group they had gathered. Surprisingly, the person who seemed to be handling this the best was Peni. The young girl seemed to be taking everything in stride. He envied her ability to take these things without freaking out.

His eyes passed over to Gwen. She was watching Noir and wringing her hands like she knew him personally. Superior had one hand on the towel and the other was placed on the untouched side of Noir’s chest, probably keeping track of his vitals. Miles was seated as far away from everyone as he could be with his knees pulled tightly to his chest. Peter felt for him. All of this had been scary before, but with one of them dying because of battle, it was probably almost too much for him to handle.

Peter went to say something to MJ, but the words didn’t get out before the door rang. He sighed and started for the door, opening it to reveal an old friend; and enemy. “Harry,” he said with a nod.

“Spider-Man,” Harry greeted with as much warmth as the artic tundra. He had on a button down shirt and slacks with a briefcase in his hand.

“How are y--?”

“Where’s the patient?” Harry asked, cutting off Peter’s attempts of formality. He stepped aside and Harry walked into the house. Once he got to the living room, he stopped and stiffened. “Have I walked into a Spider-Man convention?” he asked.

“You could say that,” Ham said from where he was sitting.

Harry gasped and jumped back. “Holy hell! What is _that?”_

Ham rolled his head back with a groan. “You humans can’t handle anything new, can you?”

Harry shook his head slowly and moved his eyes to observe the rest of the people gathered. His gaze lingered on Gwen before he moved his attention to the grey man on the couch. “And just when I thought Peter Parker’s life couldn’t be any weirder,” he grumbled. He took a deep breath before rolling his shoulders back and stepping into the room. Peter hung back. It was good to see Harry again, but he knew this peace wouldn’t last. Harry put the brief case on the table and opened it, addressing Superior as he did. “And you are…?”

“Peter Parker,” Sup said. “He and I are. The blonde is—”

“Gwen Stacy,” Harry muttered under his breath. Peter winced. He hadn’t wanted to admit that he had known a Gwen Stacy.

“I’m Peni!” she piped in from where she and her robot were working. “And grumpy over there is Miles.”

“A pleasure, I’m sure,” Harry muttered. Peter smiled despite everything. The poor guy had probably thought the weirdness of Peter Parker was over once the whole Goblin mess blew over. He picked through the vials and Peter looked at the multicolored liquid that Harry was carrying around. He had had his fair share of bad experiences with vials like that. Harry settled on a vial of blue liquid and handed it to Superior. The man took it with his free hand and swirled it around.

“What is it?”

“A serum Oscorp developed for soldiers,” Harry explained. Superior opened to vial and sniffed it through his mask.

“That’s an odd make up,” he grumbled. The liquid inside the vial was thick, like melted ice cream. He removed the towel from Noir’s chest and poured the vial of liquid into the wound. It began bubbling like they had poured hydrogen peroxide on an open wound. Noir shifted in pain, but didn’t cry out like how Peter had been expecting him to. He hadn’t doubted MJ’s choice to call Harry, but he had been worried about something going wrong, considering how they had parted ways earlier.

After several minutes, Noir settled down. “He’s not out of the woods yet,” Harry said. “But that should stabilize him. If he’s anything like my Peter, it’ll be hard to keep him down, but he should stay out of any upcoming battles you have.” He stood and shut his briefcase. “Have fun… doing whatever you guys are doing.” He turned to MJ and nodded. “It’s nice seeing you again.” He turned to Peter, said nothing, and then started for the door. Peter ran after him but Harry didn’t stop until they were out the door.

“Harry,” Peter said as he shut the door behind him. “Thank you… for coming.”

“I didn’t come for you. I came for MJ.”

“I know.” He leaned against the door and tapped the ground with his foot. To anyone else, this was probably a weird scene. Spider-Man standing in front of a door with a man in formal wear leaving. “I just… We appreciate it… _I_ appreciate it.”

Harry sighed. “Pete… I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t _want_ to know, but…” He shook his head. “Be careful.”

“We could use your help again. Oscorp might have what we need.”

“Pete…”

“Those people in there… They are going to die.”

“And that’s not your fault,” Harry reasoned. Peter looked away. _Everything_ was his fault if he did nothing to try and stop it. As long as he was alive to save people, anyone he didn’t save was his fault. “I can’t just give you access to Oscorp. We aren’t friends anymore, Pete.”

“I know we aren’t, but they don’t have a lot of time. Not only them, but the rest of this reality will fall to ruin if we don’t do something. I’m not asking you to forget what happened. All I’m asking is that you not let others suffer for my mistake.”

Harry closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Are you going to explain what’s going on?”

Peter shrugged. “Someone opened up a portal to our dimension, but these guys will die if they stay here too long, and apparently they will destroy the world if they open up another portal here without stabilizing it.”

He nodded slowly. “Of course…” He released a long sigh and Peter gripped the doorknob behind him. Access to Oscorp would get them everything they needed to get everyone home. With Superior and Peni, they could probably have a functional machine in less than 24 hours. This nightmare could be over soon. Harry shook his head. “I suppose if I don’t authorize it, you’ll figure out a way to get yourself inside anyway,” he reasoned. Peter stiffened. “Fine.”

He smiled. “Thank you!”

Harry didn’t share Peter’s enthusiasm. “You and your little Spider-gang can use my labs, but that’s it. This doesn’t change anything, Pete.”


	8. Stranger Things Have Happened

 

> Chapter 8: Stranger Things Have Happened

As the crew prepared to move from MJ’s house to Oscorp, Miles turned the borrowed web shooter over in his hands. It was a marvel of mechanical engineering. He poked the button, pushing it without pressing it down completely. The others were moving quickly, but he couldn’t get motivated to move. Superior was getting Noir ready to move while the others grabbed some supplies. Peni was working with her robot and the key, leaving Miles to watch over it like some sort of gargoyle. Surely, they had all gone through this at some point. Didn't they all have that moment where they didn't want this? He couldn't be the only one.

He looked up at Gwen as she walked past him. She paused and looked at him for a heartbeat before moving on. Miles followed after her. "Do you think we'll get this?" he asked.

She nodded. "I think we will."

He wanted her confidence. He wanted the confidence that all these Spiders seemed to have. How long did it take for them to get that? "How do you know?"

Gwen sighed and stopped walking, turning to look at him. “I just do, okay? We’re Spiders and we won’t give up until it’s over.”

He had hoped she wouldn’t say that. That wasn’t an answer. That was the opposite of an answer. No one had a plan. They just had hope. “I need something more than hope!”

She looked at him for a long moment, her eyes moving over his store-bought costume. She probably saw an inexperienced, terrified child and she was probably disgusted by it. "Miles...” she said in a soft, gentle tone. “How did you get these powers? Did you ask for them?"

"No. I don't know anyone who would ask for these powers."

She nodded as if she had been expecting that answer. She looked down at her own gloved hand, clenching her fist tightly. "We didn’t ask for this. None of us did but we work with it to the best of our ability. We use the powers that we didn’t ask for to save the people who can’t save themselves.”

“And what if  _we_  can’t save ourselves? Who saves us?”

She didn’t answer for a long pause. It was because she didn’t have an answer. How could she? She reached forward and put her hand on his shoulder. “Then we die,” she said. Her voice was soft and her tone was like she was talking to a scared puppy. “I know that’s not what you want to hear, but that’s the truth. If we can’t save ourselves, and we have to choose between the people we protect and our own lives, we choose the people. IF we have to die to save this world, then so be it.”

Miles recoiled. “I don’t accept that!” he snapped, lashing out. The others in the room froze and turned, but he ignored them. “I didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t hurt anyone! We don’t deserve this curse, and I don’t want to die because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time! I didn’t ask for that spider to bite me! I didn’t  _ask_  for any of this!”

Gwen said nothing. He knew he was being unfair. They didn’t ask for this either; and they didn’t ask to be babysitting a kid who couldn’t handle the pressure of what they had been dealing with for years.

“Alright,” Peter called, cutting the tension. “Let’s get going. We’re wasting time. Sup, is he ready to be moved?”

“As ready as he’ll ever be.”

“Good. Then let’s go.” Peter picked up a backpack, pointing to Superior. “You’re in the car with MJ and Ham. Gwen and Peni, cover them. Miles.” He paused and turned to Peter, clenching his fists. Peter tossed him another web shooter. It matched the one he had been given already. “You’re with me.”

Miles blinked, confused. Why couldn’t he go in the car? He was useless elsewhere. He studied the web shooter without looking up. “I want to go in the car,” he muttered.

“You’re with me,” Peter said. His tone indicated that this wasn’t a discussion. Miles put the web shooter on his arm and waited behind with Peter as the crew cleared the house. MJ stopped once to talk with Peter for a moment before they were all gone, leaving the house feeling small and empty. “Let’s go, kid.”

Miles shook his head. “It’ll take us too long to walk from here to Oscorp. Why do you insist on wasting what little time I have left?”

Peter walked to the kitchen and opened a drawer, pulling out what looked like two older web shooters. “She kept them…” he whispered. He put on the shooters and turned to Miles. He could almost imagine the smile on the man’s face. “We aren’t walking.”

Any confusion Miles felt faded into terror. “You mean…?”

“I’m teaching you how to swing.”

Miles took a step back, shaking his head. He didn’t want this. “No. I don’t want to be Spider-Man and I don’t want you teaching me how to be him.”

Peter sighed, leaning against the wall. “Look, I promise I’d send you home, but I don’t want you going back without the bare basics… because whether you like it or not, you have powers and Spider-man’s enemies may one day become your enemies, and you at least need to know how to flee from them in the most efficient way. I won’t be able to sleep if I send you home without even that skill.”

Miles frowned. Peter made sense and he hated that. He needed these skills… and web swinging had always looked fun. He closed his eyes. “Okay…”

The two walked out of the house and took off running. Once they were well enough away, they stopped and Peter lifted his hand. “Aim with your hips.” He fired a web and it landed on a street lamp. He yanked, pulling himself up. “Come on, kid! That’s rule number one!”

Miles looked down at the web shooter. He wasn’t strong enough to pull himself up. He wasn’t good enough to hit the streetlight. Doubt clouded him as he aimed his hand and fired. The web overshot the post by several feet.

“Were you aiming for the air?”

“Yes,” he grumbled. He aimed again and fired. It landed slightly better, but not much. This time, Peter grabbed the web and yanked it, pulling Miles forward a step.

“Aim!”

“I am aiming!”

“For what?”

“For the damn lamppost!” Miles snapped. He yanked the web, unbalancing Peter, but not knocking him down.

“Aim for me.”

Miles scoffed.  _That_  he could do. He wanted to rip that mask off Peter’s smug face. He spun and shot his web, hitting Peter at the center of his chest. He stumbled back, but didn’t fall off the post. Peter nodded. Miles gripped the webbing and pulled, jumping at the same time. Peter braced himself so that he wouldn’t fall and when Miles landed on the street lamp, Peter grabbed him to help him balance. He fumbled a little. Getting his footing was hard, but after a moment, he found balance, squatting beside Peter.

“See? You just have to remain focused. You were mad at me, so you hit me.” He patted Miles on the back. “Channel that energy.” Without warning, he shot his web and jumped, leaving Miles alone on the lamp post. The way Peter moved was graceful as he swung from post to post. Instead of swinging, Miles jumped from post to post, moving with all the grace of a toad who had eaten marbles. This continued until they were out of the suburbs and into the outskirts of the high rises.

Peter said nothing as he grabbed Miles and ran up the side of a building. Miles closed his eyes and hugged Peter tightly. He wasn’t ready to be up there. “Peter!”

“Shut up kid, and open your eyes.”

It was then that Miles realized they had stopped moving. All he could feel and hear was the wind. Peter put him on the roof. He opened his eyes slowly and gasped. Night had fallen on the city, leaving it a world of lights and color. He gasped. He had lived in New York his whole life and he had never seen it like this before. His heart raced. The wind picked up. Adrenaline coursed through his veins.

Peter removed his mask and smiled. “You see, Miles? It’s not so bad up here.” He walked to the edge of the building and held out his hands like he was ready to perform a freefall. “It’s scary. I get that. Being Spider-Man is a terrifying job; but someone’s got to do it.”

“I don’t want to be that someone…” He shook his head. “I’m not ready.”

Peter laughed. It was a gentle, soft sound. It was the first time since they had met that Peter sounded happy. “No one’s ever ready. But we take that leap regardless.”

How could he be so calm? Why couldn’t Miles just package whatever makes him whole? He closed his eyes, wringing his hands together. This was insane. He was just a kid from Brooklyn. He was no one. Last week, he had been trying to flunk out of a school. Now he was trying to flunk out of being a superhero. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves before walking to the edge. He peered down the edge and his stomach flopped. Nausea took his stomach and bile rose in his throat. It was then that he realized how hungry he was. The fall was daunting and the thought of crashing to the ground made his legs weak. He couldn’t jump. He’d die. “What about you?”

“Hm?”

“You talk the talk, but you continue to push MJ away.”

Peter averted his gaze as he put his mask back on. “Just jump off the building, kid.”

Miles shook his head. He wasn’t ready, and clearly Peter wasn’t ready to deal with his own issues. “You can’t dodge the question, Pete. What’s up with you and her?”

“Miles… There are things you need to learn when you’re older. That’s one of them. Now…” He stood behind Miles and put his hands on his shoulders. “Aim with your hips. Look where you want it to hit. Square your shoulders. Don’t forget to follow through. It’ll be scary the first time, but I’m right behind you.”

Miles looked down. The fall would kill him if he messed anything up. The skyline that, had just a moment ago seemed so beautiful, now seemed like nothing more than a death trap. He shook his head. His breaths came in short, terrified gasps. “I… I can’t, Peter…”

“Yes, you can.” They stood for a moment. The wind blew passively around them. It was almost inviting; like someone standing on the edge of a bridge wanting to end their life. Miles nodded slowly, giving him permission and Peter shoved him.

The initial feeling was like his stomach was being pushed out of his mouth. The sound that came out was earsplitting. He hadn’t even realized that it was coming out of his mouth at first. His arms and legs flailed as he tried to gain some sort of control over his fall.  _Aim with your hips…_  He couldn’t. There was no way to aim while in free fall.

Panic started to settle in. He was going to hit the pavement and break every bone in his body. The screams grew louder and more panicked. His fall ended abruptly as Peter grabbed his costume and threw him back into the air to give him more time to find his footing. He aimed without really aiming and fired a web. It found purchase in a nearby building and the web went taut. The screaming turned to shouting as his freefall transformed into an arc.

“Double tap to release!” The voice came through the rush of wind going past Miles’ head. He didn’t even know where it had come from. His fingers tapped the shooter at the top of the arc. Suddenly, he was in freefall again. Panic took over once again, but he managed to still his nerves just enough to aim for another building, and he held on for dear life.

After a couple repeats of that, he found a rhythm. It was erratic like a band of elementary students trying to play a complicated symphony for the first time, but the melody was hidden somewhere beneath the cracked notes and dissonance created by two out of tune instruments colliding.

 “Good!” Peter shouted, swinging past him.

Miles smiled despite the terror rushing through his veins. This was… incredible. The rush of air took his breath away, but it was the world’s scariest and most amazing rollercoaster. As he went to turn to Peter, he gasped. A purple streak grabbed Peter midflight and the two pummeled to the ground.

Miles had mere seconds to react, but before he could, his body began convulsing. It was worse this time. It felt like his body was being torn apart at a cellular level. The scream that came out of his mouth was a sound directly from a horror movie.

When the seizure ended, he was several dozen feet lower and falling fast. Miles fumbled with his web shooter, but the closer the ground got, the more his panic grew, and the more his panic grew, the less he remembered about saving his own life. He managed the fire a web, but it was way off and missed by a mile. The freefall continued and as the ground got closer, he began to accept the fact that this was it. Even catching a web at these speeds would leave him with a broken arm at the very least. He closed his eyes and waited for the hit. His only hope now was that he died instantly upon impact.

The fated splat didn’t happen. Suddenly the wind changed directions as they went up in an arc. Miles dared to open his eyes. Peter had him by the back of his costume. His mask was torn and blood was seeping through the tear. His arm was also torn, but he showed no pain. They landed on the ground hard and they rolled in a mess of limbs and blood. Peter said nothing. He just grabbed Miles’ arm and ran.

Prowler came at them with a vengeance; like he was making up for the last time they got away. Miles was having trouble keeping up. It felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest. It was beating too fast to be healthy and he couldn’t seem to breathe. Prowler caught him and dragged him to the ground. Miles screamed and kicked out, trying to dislodge the assassin.

But he had been trained too well and Miles hadn’t been trained at all. The claws came down and raked over him, tearing through the arm that he had held up to block a more fatal wound. He screamed in what should have been pain, but he felt none of it. Terror was blocking his perception of reality. His screams were pure horror.

Peter lunged and grabbed Prowler, throwing him off Miles. The two fell into a fight while Miles scrambled away from the fight. He felt nothing. The pain from his torn arm was nothing. He didn't even know he was crying until he was huddled against a dumpster, hugging his bleeding arm to his chest.

"Kid!"

Miles screamed and tried to get away, but Peter grabbed his arm, holding it tightly.

"I'll hold him back... You run!"

He shook his head, hardly seeing Peter through the blur in his eyes.

"I promise... I will catch up with you! Just go!" Miles shook his head harder. Peter grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Go!"

Before Miles could move, Peter was grabbed from behind and dragged away by Prowler. Miles covered his head and tried to block out the sounds of the fight. The last time he had been in this position, the other Peter had been killed. This Peter had told him that it was okay to be scared, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that if he had done something differently, no one would be in this situation.

Miles gasped as Prowler was thrown beside the dumpster. The purple-clad man rose, flashing his claws. He was covered in webbing and his costume was torn. Miles squeaked and Prowler turned to him, taking a step in his direction. Miles froze.

“This doesn’t concern him,” Peter snapped. Miles wanted to laugh. This whole thing concerned him. This was his fault. “Leave him alone!”

“Yes, leave him alone.”

Miles gasped. The voice that had spoken was a big, booming voice, and all too familiar. He peeked his head above the dumpster to see Fisk standing in the entrance to the alley that they had gotten themselves into. Beside him was the woman with her tentacle limbs out. Miles wanted to duck his head behind the dumpster, but he was frozen in place.

“Stand down, Prowler,” Fisk ordered. Prowler grunted, but said nothing; instead, he opted to put his gauntlet away. “Spider-man… you’ve stolen something from us.”

“Wouldn’t have had to if you didn’t plan on destroying this entire reality,” Peter countered. “You aren’t getting it back.”

“You won’t build that portal in time,” Ock reasoned, stepping forward.

“Then we won’t.”

Miles didn’t comment, despite not liking that outcome. He knew he couldn’t ask Peter to destroy this world just to save his own skin. Prowler turned to him and Miles felt like he was being studied. He clenched his fists.

“What do you want?” Peter continued. “Killing us would be pointless. We don’t have the key.”

“I know,” Ock said. “Your crew is heading to Oscorp; a good idea, I’d say.” She advanced on them. Peter tensed, but no one attacked. Her movements were slow and non-threatening, but Peter didn’t seem lulled into any sense of security. “We are now at an impasse. You want to save your world, and we’d like to get home before our atoms are torn asunder.”

“This better not be going where I think it’s going…”

“It is,” she said with a nod. “Fighting will get us nowhere. Allow us to help and we will have that machine up and operational by the time the sun sets tomorrow.”

 

 


	9. The Other Side

> Chapter Nine: The Other Side

Peter wasn’t too thrilled about the turn of events as he and Miles stepped into the car. He had to wonder if Fisk had stolen the other Fisk’s vehicle. “You know… I try to make it a habit not to get into cars with strangers,” Peter muttered in an attempt to cut the tension that was building in the car. Olivia was the only one who chuckled at the statement.

“Yes, it does seem like that costume is getting a bit too warm, doesn’t it?”

Peter frowned. He didn’t like this woman. She had already killed one Peter Parker and he didn’t want to be the next victim. But as his eyes went from her to Prowler to Fisk, he realized who the biggest threat was. The hulking man driving the specifically designed car for a man his size had an air around him. Even without threatening them, Peter’s Spider senses buzzed in the back of his head in a constant warning. This man was dangerous, and he could snap at any moment. Peter wanted to sit down with him and figure out why the hell he decided opening portals to other dimensions was remotely a good idea… but he had a feeling Fisk wasn’t in the mood to talk to him about anything.

He flinched when Miles rested a hand on his arm, seeking comfort. This was new territory for him as well. It seemed that the villains they were riding with had no intention of harming them, but he didn’t want to relax. If they couldn’t stabilize the portal, Olivia would flip that switch regardless. They were betting on a miracle here and he didn’t want these guys anywhere near their portal unless they could turn it on safely.

“Look, Mr. Osborn might not be happy with me bringing… people like you into Oscorp.”

Olivia laughed, but Prowler and Fisk did nothing. “I’m sure Mr. Osborn wants us out of this city just as much as you do.” She turned to Miles. “What universe are you from, Kiddo?”

Miles shrugged.

“We don’t keep track of that,” Peter said. It wouldn’t be good to think that they had another Spider-man running about their world.

Olivia smiled. “And you’re from this world?” she asked him.

“Yes. And I’d appreciate you and Fisk not destroying it. And keep your assassin away from us, please.”

“He won’t hurt you,” Fisk said. Peter shuddered. The man’s voice was booming, even when he was talking quietly. Every word he said was powerful and it sent Peter’s senses to high gear. He imagined that there was a silent  _not yet_  in Fisk’s throat, but he didn’t dare joke about it; not with Miles in the car.

“Thanks,” Peter muttered. A shiver went down his spine and he clenched his fists. He noticed that Fisk was gripping the steering wheel tightly enough to deform it. Luckily, like most everything in Fisk’s life, it was reinforced, but this man wasn’t stopping. “So… What were you guys looking for, anyhow?” he asked, trying to alleviate some tension.

“Why did we make that portal?” Olivia clarified. He nodded. “Spider-man killed his family.” She motioned to Fisk and Peter’s eyes went wide. What?

“I’m sorry?”

The car stopped at the curb in front of Oscorp and the doors opened. Olivia and Prowler got out. Peter pushed Miles towards the door. “Get in there and tell them not to attack our guests.”

Miles nodded and hurried out of the car. Peter went to follow him, but a massive hand stopped him with a bone crushing grip on his arm. He turned slowly to Fisk as Olivia slammed the door, trapping him inside. He bit back a whimper of pain. There weren’t many people in his life who could hurt him like that with their bare hands. “I should crush you.”

“I didn’t touch your family,” Peter reasoned.

“No? But you  _will._ ”

Peter narrowed his eyes. He had taken out Fisk before and he could do it again; just not trapped in an armored car.

“I should kill all of you.”

“Leave them alone. They have nothing to do with what your Spider-man and what happened to your family. And neither do I,” Peter added, but he didn’t struggle. The best way to handle this right now was to keep his head down. Fisk wouldn’t risk killing him. Would he?

Fisk squeezed tighter. “I want my family back.”

Peter narrowed his eyes in realization. Fisk had planned on bringing a family from another world to his. “It won’t work,” he reasoned. “You  _know_  it won’t! You are dying…!”

“If you want to keep those Spiders in there safe, you''ll bring me my family before we open that portal.”

“You’d be sentencing them to death!” Peter protested. He made to continue the argument, but the hand that was gripping him released him and he was punched hard across the face, sending him back against the back seat. His vision swam and his head felt like it was going to split open. He had forgotten how hard that man could hit him.

When he came back to his wits, Fisk had exited the car, leaving Peter to gather his thoughts. He grabbed his head and opened the door. MJ was waiting for him on the sidewalk. She crossed her arms. “Are you okay?”

Peter rubbed the spot above his eye where he had been socked. It was bruised. “I’m fine…” He tried to process where to go from there. “How long have I been out?”

“I just got here, so not long,” she answered. “He could have killed you! What were you thinking getting in a car with three criminals?” Her voice rose in an angry huff. He understood. Taking unnecessary risks came with the territory of being a superhero. Unfortunately, that meant making his family unnecessarily worried at whenever it happened.

“I was thinking that if I didn’t, they’d kill us anyway. If it was just me, that would have been fine, but I can’t keep the kid safe… and he’s more important than I’ll ever be.”

MJ huffed and turned her head. He frowned and reached forward but stopped short of touching her. “Get inside before someone sees your Spider convention.” Peter nodded and followed her into the lobby of the Oscorp building. Apparently, Harry had cleared it out for them. That was good at least. He walked to the front desk and leaned against it, resting his elbows and then holding his aching head.

Fisk wanted him to kidnap his family. Not only that, but he didn’t seem to care that sending them to another world would be a death sentence. He was in the business of saving lives; but he had a feeling that Fisk wouldn’t hesitate to destroy the portal if he didn’t get his way. “He’s delusional,” Peter muttered.

“Maybe,” MJ answered. Her tone indicated a shrug. “What did he tell you?”

“Basically, he thinks that my otherworldly counterpart killed his family and this whole thing was to get another family. And…” He paused and closed his eyes. “He wants me to find this world’s Fisk’s family so he can take them back to his world.”

“That’s a death sentence,” MJ gasped. He nodded. Yes, it was. “He can’t possibly think this is a good idea.”

“I don’t really think he’s doing much thinking at the moment.” Grief and anger were powerful emotions. Peter had almost crossed a line he couldn’t come back from after his Uncle Ben died. He had a moral compass that had stopped him from crossing that line, but Fisk didn’t have that compass. He couldn’t see past his own grief. “He said that he would kill the Spiders if I didn’t.”

“Then the answer is clear,” Superior said as he walked towards them.

Peter rubbed his forehead. Sup was the last person he wanted to see and the last person who needed to know about this turn of events. “Oh, really? Please enlighten us with your superior intellect,” he grumbled.

Superior shook his head. “We need to kill Fisk. Wild cards in the mix aren’t good for keeping everyone safe. If someone must die, it should be the evil villain who threatens our entire operation, don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t think,” Peter snapped. He started for the elevator. MJ and Superior followed.

“You misunderstand. I’m not asking your permission. I’m just telling you how I will clean up this mess,” he said, pressing the button to the lab. Peter turned to MJ for help. She merely shrugged. He knew that she didn’t oppose to his no-kill rule, but she sometimes found it frustrating. The door closed. “Kidnapping Fisk’s family will merely put a bandage on his bullet hole. Once they die, he’ll be ripping the fabric of time and space all over again.”

“So, your response to end him…”

“Before he ends us,” Superior said with a nod.

“The answer is no,” Peter said without looking from the door. He could see both of them reflected in the mirror surface of the elevator and he hated that they could see him as well. At least the mask hid his annoyed and apprehensive expression,

The elevator dinged and the door opened. MJ exited, but before Peter could follow, Superior blocked his path and shut the door before turning on the emergency stop for the elevator. Peter sighed and leaned against the railing with his back to the other Spider.

“You are going to get us all killed,” Superior said

“I have a plan.”

Superior crossed his arms, leaning against the door. Even with the mask on, Peter could tell he was being glared at through those cold eyes. “Really? Pray tell.”

“We overpower him and throw him in the portal once it’s opened… safely.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “You’re risking a lot just to save the life of a terrible, murdering criminal.”

Peter shrugged. “Maybe.”

Superior clenched his fists. “I told you, I’m not asking you. We are going to kill Fisk. Olivia and Prowler will help us once they realize that he’ll make sure we don’t get what we want until he gets what he wants. He’ll go on a rampage in his world and then take that rampage to other worlds once his family dies. This is a man with enough pull to create a super collider; he will kill as many people as he can once he doesn’t get what he wants. You’ll be killing more people by saving his life.”

Peter turned his head to avoid looking at the man. He had to be younger, but he felt so much older. Peter hated that Superior was right. Letting Fisk live would be dangerous on all accounts. Sending him back without his family would get people killed. Sending him back  _with_  his family would also get people killed. The only way to minimize the amount of deaths about to happen was to kill Fisk before he could kill anyone else.

He clenched the railing. “We can’t kill Fisk.”

“Then you are dooming others to die. And I won’t do that.”

Peter closed his eyes, clenching the railing hard enough to deform the metal. He turned and opened the door. “Get out.”

“Where are you going?”

“To track down Fisk’s family.”

 

“You’re going to get them killed,” Otto snapped, but Peter shut the door to the elevator, leaving the man to stand and watch the metal doors slide shut unceremoniously. Peter was exhausting. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and turned to MJ. “I’m not sure what you see in him,” he muttered as he walked past her.

“Are you not Peter Parker?” she asked him, hurrying behind him. “Don’t you have an MJ in your world?”

“I do. And I let her go.”

She sighed. “Seems to be a pattern for you guys.”

Otto shook his head. There was a story in there somewhere, but he didn’t care enough to ask. “I thought we were made to save as many lives as possible. Now we’re trying to save the life of one man at the cost of at least a dozen more.”

MJ had no answer for him. Of course she didn’t. No one had a good answer to his question. Unfortunately, it was a hard question for some people. It was easy for him. Weighing the life of an evil man over the lives of the innocents that would die if he was allowed to live was easy and he couldn’t understand why no one else thought it was as easy as he did.

“Are we supposed to let Fisk live because of a stupid moral code?”

Again, she didn’t answer him. He shook his head with a hiss and walked away. There was nothing she could offer him. Instead, he headed towards the lab. Miles lifted his head as he walked in, clearly expecting the Peter he knew better. “He’s gone on some suicide mission,” Otto grumbled, hoping that would deter Miles from asking questions.

It did, but it was Gwen who stepped forward. “What kind of mission?”

Otto looked to Fisk where he had made himself comfortable leaning against a wall. Prowler was standing next to his employer, surveying the lab. “Go ask that man,” he said, motioning to Fisk. Gwen turned and Otto slipped away to where Olivia was while she was distracted. He nodded to his counterpart and she smiled back at him. “You’re happy,” he grumbled.

“All things considered, I’d consider this a success,” she said. Peni looked up from where her and her robot were working and scoffed. “Impending death aside, what has happened here is incredible. We’re in an alternate universe. This shouldn’t be possible!”

Otto glared at her. “It isn’t. We’re dying. Our atoms are being torn apart at a subatomic level and I’m supposed to marvel at what you’ve done?”

“Yes.” She turned back to her work, having said her peace. He walked to his station and got back to work. Despite everything, he too was mildly interested in how this whole thing was going. Interdimensional travel shouldn’t be possible. They shouldn’t be allowed to do any of this. The laws of the universe shouldn’t allow for this. They weren’t supposed to know about the existence of other universes. They were standing on the edge of something incredible here; if only they could figure out a way to study this more efficiently without fear of dying.

The table he was working with moved slightly and he looked up. Peni had come to sit on the table. “I think I’ve got something,”

He smiled. At least someone was keeping themselves focused on this whole mess. “What’cha got?” he asked. Out of all the Spiders that he was being forced to work with, Peni was probably the most focused and level-headed of the bunch. Noir seemed willing to do what he needed to get things done, but he was out of commission for the time being. Peter Prime was just obnoxious, and Miles had potential, but he was too new at this to be considered anything but a nuisance. Gwen also had potential, but she was too compassionate for her own good.

And Ham… Otto still didn’t know what to think about the pig. He didn’t want to take the time to get to know the barn animal. All he wanted was to get home without squandering the life he had stolen to be here.

Peni pulled up a tablet and tapped the screen. “According to my calculations, we can stabilize the portal by having someone anchor it.”

Otto took the tablet and ran her simulation. The idea was solid, but they had no way to test it without opening a portal and if they failed, they would set off a world-ending event. He read the schematics. “You’re planning on running the beam  _through_  someone?”

“That’s genius!” Olivia said as she came over. She took the tablet from Otto and tapped it rapidly. Otto shook his head. “How did you come up with this?”

“If we filter the beam, then we’ll be able to tether it to this world and it won’t tear apart reality.” Her face fell. “But…”

Otto sighed. Of course. There was always a catch. He had often wondered what it was about being a Spider that made their lives exponentially more difficult and unluckier than even the other superheroes. “Let me guess… Someone has to die?”

“Isn’t that how it always goes?”

Otto looked down at the simulation and read the information. The process would kill whoever they put into the beam. “Does it have to be someone from this world?” he asked. He knew Peter would be more than happy to give his life to save theirs. But if not…

“No,” Olivia said, taking the tablet from him. She probably knew more about it than he did. She had invented the first super collider, so it made sense. “It just needs an anchor. It doesn’t matter where the anchor originates from.”

“Then we use Fisk,” Otto said without hesitating. They could kill two birds with one stone. They would save everyone and murder Fisk, and Peter could keep a clear conscience since  _someone_  had to die in all the outcomes. He turned to Olivia, expecting her to argue with him, but she didn’t contradict his statement. She merely mulled over it and then shrugged. Otto sighed. There didn’t seem to be much loyalty amongst them. “Why are you even working with Fisk?”

She shrugged. “I’m not working with him. It was merely a mutual relationship. He wanted a family and I wanted to push the limits of science. I provided the brains and he provided the funding. There was nothing in it for me other than opening the multiverse.” She held out her hand like she was holding an orb. “Maybe I got a bit overzealous… But I _did_ it. I opened that portal to other worlds, consequences be damned!”

Her tone and love of science was almost endearing… if she wasn’t threatening an entire world. Had he ever been this crazed in pursuit of science? Maybe he had been? And maybe he’d be that way again; but for now, it didn’t matter. “Either way, we need a stabilizer and Fisk is threatening to end this entire operation in bloodshed. I say we make him pay for starting this whole mess with his life.”

Peni frowned but said nothing to contradict Otto’s assessment. Either she was too young to think she could argue, or she agreed with him. He didn’t ask for her to clarify her silence.

Olivia seemed more than happy with the plan. “But first, we must figure out how to get him into the beam. He’s a very large man.”

Otto chuckled softly. “Oh, between the lot of us, we’ll figure something out I’m sure.”


	10. The Hands of Sorrow

> Chapter Ten: The Hand of Sorrow

Miles watched Superior disappear without another word while Gwen was talking with Fisk. She displayed no level of fear. Even Peter had been rigid when they were in the car. Maybe she didn’t know how powerful he was; or maybe she just realized that he wouldn’t risk everything by hurting them.

The hulking man looked mildly amused when she came up to him. “Where’s Spider-man?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“He went in there,” Fisk answered, motioning with his head to the lab that Superior had disappeared in to.

“You know what I meant.”

Fisk chuckled softly. “I do.” He offered no more information about it and looked away from her. There seemed to be a silent conversation between him and the Prowler and the grown man merely nodded slowly in unspoken understanding.

“He and the other monkey said something about going after someone’s family,” Ham said with a shrug. Miles turned to the pig and was surprised at how quickly he had gotten used to the animal’s presence. It was amazing just how quickly all of this was becoming second nature. He hadn’t fully adjusted to it, but it was no longer shocking or surprising when these things happened to him.

Fisk stiffened when Ham spoke, and he clenched his massive fists. Apparently, that was all Gwen needed to see. She huffed and turned to Miles. “Let’s go.”

Miles scrambled to his feet and followed her, taking a moment to find his footing. She pressed the button for the elevator and crossed her arms as she stepped inside. He jumped in just as the doors started closing. “Where are we going?”

“To find Peter before he does something stupid,” she snapped. Miles looked down at the railing and narrowed his eyes. It had been crushed. “He’s going to get himself and everyone he cares about killed.”

“Am I…missing something?” he asked, turning to the blonde. She rolled her eyes as she put her mask on.

“You really need to get better at this part of the job, you know,” she said with a huff. “Fisk is looking for his family.”

“Because the Spider-man of his world killed them,” Miles said. He had been paying attention in the car after all.

Gwen turned to him sharply, and then scoffed. “More likely he did something stupid and got his family killed, and then blamed Spider-man for it. He wouldn’t hurt innocents if he can avoid it.” Miles shrugged. He vaguely remembered something about a car accident involving Fisk’s family on the news several months ago. “This Pete went looking for Fisk’s family… and if he brings them here, he’s going to get them killed.”

The elevator dinged and she stepped out. Miles hung back. Now they were dragging other people into this mess? Why? And what would happen if they got back to his world? They’d die, and then he’d still have to deal with Fisk and the rest of his gang… and all the other villains that Peter had left for him to clean up. That wasn’t a life! He didn’t want any of this! He ran after Gwen. “Spider-woman! I don’t know why you’re involving me in this! I can’t do it!” he snapped.

She sighed, exasperated. “Yes, you can,” she retorted without stopping. “Do you really think any of us were prepared to take this job?”

He crossed his arms. “No one else seems particularly bothered by it,” he grumbled.

She lifted a hand to silence him as she headed for the door. He followed like a puppy. “You’re never going to be ready with  _that_  attitude.”

He shook his head. “You don’t understand! I’m not like you. I don’t _want_ to be ready! I can’t do this!”

She wheeled on him and jabbed her finger into his chest, forcing him back. “Do you think it was any easier for the rest of us? Do you?” He shrank back from the angry tone in her voice. “I lost my best friend because of these damned powers!  _No one_  wants this, Miles! Not even the people who think they do! You don’t want to do this? Fine! Then don’t! But when you get back to your world and you have the power to help people, and you don’t, then it’s  _your_  fault!”

Miles narrowed his eyes. “That’s not fair. You can’t guilt me into being a superhero,” he argued, clenching his fists. Why did they all think they were the only ones with the power to save anyone? Other heroes existed. Not everyone who had powers had to be a hero. Some of them just wanted to be left alone.

She shook her head and turned, leaving him in the snow as she walked away. Miles shoved his hands into his pocket and closed his eyes, breathing deeply the frigid air. He released the breath slowly before running after Gwen. “Look… I’m sorry,” he called as he caught up. “I just…”

“You’re scared,” she finished. He nodded. “I get it. I was scared, too… But I was thrilled by it. You see, my dad’s a cop in my world, and I saw it as a chance to help out the city like he does.” She shook her head. “But my friend… he wanted the powers, too. He wanted to be special.” Her voice cracked. “I would give anything to change what happened to him… I’m not trying to guilt you into it. I’m trying to save you from the pain of being guilted into this job.”

Miles looked at the ground and kicked up the snow. “I understand… My dad’s a cop too… and I’m terrified every day he goes out there.” He shook his head and let out a shaking breath. “I just want to be a normal kid.”

Gwen kicked a pile of snow, sprinkling it in front of them. “We’re way past normal, kid…”

Miles didn’t answer her. He didn’t want to admit that he knew things would never be the same again. Maybe if he didn’t admit that he wasn’t normal, he could continue to pretend that he could go back to how things were.

When he didn’t speak, she merely shook her head. “I can’t change your mind,” she conceded. “But for now, while you’re here, we need your help, and when you get back, you can do whatever you want.”

Miles bowed his head and when he looked up, Gwen had used her web shooters to take off into the air. He aimed and did as well, finding a rhythm in his swinging. It was almost as if the swinging was in his veins. He wasn’t nearly as smooth as Gwen, but it was a lot better than when Peter tried to teach him. Gwen was more graceful than Peter was as well, and Miles appreciated that she wasn’t going too fast so that he couldn’t keep up.

Eventually, they found him further ahead, but they kept their distance. Miles didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life once he got back to his own world. Being a superhero had never crossed his mind… Or, that was a lie. Of course, everyone thought about it once and a while. They all thought it would be cool to be a superhero… until it happened to them. He watched Gwen. What had her friend done to cause her so much pain? She said that she had lost him, but what did he do to make that happen? He wanted to ask but decided against it. If she wanted him to know, she’d tell him.

They followed Peter until he landed near an older-looking building. At first glance, it seemed almost abandoned, but upon closer examination, he realized that it was reinforced. Cameras covered the perimeter and swiveled slowly. “If he brings Fisk’s family back to the lab, he’s asking for trouble,” Gwen whispered.

“Would he really do that?” he wondered. She shrugged. Peter was desperate to get everyone home safely; maybe he was desperate enough to endanger civilians. They followed Peter into the old office building.

“Vanessa!” Peter called once they were up a few flights of stairs. Inside the building was vastly different from the façade outside. Inside was modern, almost futuristic. There were no real security guards, but Miles knew they were being watched. The thing they called spider sense was tingling on the back of his skull, warning him to run.

 A door opened and a man dressed in a black suit stepped out. “You’ve a lot of nerve, Spider-man.”

“I need to talk to Vanessa,” Peter said without a hint of emotion in his voice. “My friends will also be joining us.”

Gwen and Miles flinched and stepped around the corner from where they were hiding. The man took one look at them before shaking his head, mumbling something under his breath. Peter motioned them forward and they came to stand by him while the man disappeared back into the office that he had come from.

“Did you two really think I didn’t know you were tailing me?”

“I was hoping,” Gwen muttered. Peter chuckled softly. “You can’t seriously be thinking about doing this,” she hissed. “Are you insane?”

Peter made to answer but stopped when the door opened. The man nodded to them and stepped aside so that they could enter into the large office. Unlike the rest of the building, the office was lavish and lush with heavy velvet curtains and an ornate carpet. The desk where the woman sat was old style and oak and looked to be hand carved.

The woman sitting behind the desk was a small, fragile looking woman and Miles would almost think that she was defenseless if not for the severe look in her deep brown eyes. She didn’t show any fear at seeing the Spiders in her office even though any one of them could probably snap her in half without breaking a sweat. She put down the pen that she was using to write with as Peter stopped several feet from the desk. Gwen went to stand beside Peter and Miles hung back several paces.

“Spider-man,” she greeted. Her voice was soft and delicate, but cold. Miles wondered how this woman had ever managed to have any sort of relationship with the brute that Fisk was. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” She didn’t sound insincere in her words, which surprised Miles.

Peter sighed. “Vanessa… I…”

Gwen stepped forward. “I can’t let you do this, Spider-man,” she snapped. Peter turned to her sharply and Vanessa clenched the pen tightly. Suddenly everyone in the room went rigid and stiff.

“What are you doing?” he hissed.

“what are _you_ doing?”

“Excuse me, but if you two are finished, I would like to know why you thought it okay to walk into my office.”

Peter turned from Gwen and stepped forward. “Vanessa, I know you and I have had our differences, but you have to believe me when I say that you and your son are in danger and if Richard is in town, you and he need to leave New York immediately.”

Gwen was visibly taken aback. She stepped away from Peter and cocked her head. He didn’t react to her reaction.

Vanessa took the news more smoothly, but she didn’t seem convinced. “I’m not sure why I should believe you, Spider-man.”

“Because I would never willingly put you in danger,” Peter answered, but he gave a slight side glance to Gwen. “I can’t really explain what’s going on, but you need to get out of town now. It only has to be for a few days. I have no reason to trick you. Wilson is in jail, and last I checked, Schemer was on my side.”

Vanessa stood and motioned one of her guards to her desk. Gwen grabbed Peter’s arm while the woman discussed with her guard. “What are you doing?” she snapped.

“I’m trying to save these people.”

“You mean… you _weren’t_ going to bring them to the lab?”

Peter scoffed and Miles figured he was rolling his eyes. “Do you really think so little of me? It’s a death sentence, but I needed Superior to think I was because I don’t trust that he wouldn’t gloat about it or at least drop hints. I’ve worked with these people before. Vanessa doesn’t trust me, but she’s not unreasonable.”

There was a soft cough from the desk. “If you two are quite finished, I will contact Richard.”

Before Peter could say anything, the door behind them opened. Prowler stood in the doorway. All three Spiders fell into a ready stance, but the goon didn’t look like he was there for a fight. “Vanessa Fisk?” he asked, stepping forward. Peter stood in his way. “Ma’am… You and I need to discuss some things.”

Vanessa stood up from her seat, her hand resting on something under her desk. A hidden gun, most likely. “Who are you?”

“Move aside, Spider-man.”

Peter stepped to the side, but he didn’t seem like he was giving Prowler an inch. Prowler nodded at them and took a few steps forward. Peter grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t do this. They’re innocent,” he hissed.

Prowler removed Peter’s hand. “Vanessa, I am the Prowler; an operative of your husband.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I know most men who work for my husband. Remove your mask.”

He laughed softly. “Ma’am… you know why I can’t do that.”

“Then I can’t trust you.”

Prowler sighed and reached for his mask. “There are some things you need to know before I do this. Yes… I work for Wilson Fisk, but not the one you know. I would not unmask unless it was in his will.” He gently removed the mask. Miles instantly felt nauseated. He let out a soft squeak, but it went unnoticed by the others in the room; except Peter, who turned to him slightly. Prowler got on one knee. “I am Aaron Davis, ma’am, and I need you to come with me.”

The sound of his uncle’s name left a bad taste in Miles’ mouth. His breathing was now coming in short, shallow gasps, but he managed to keep it quiet. “You okay, bud?” Peter whispered. Miles shook his head.

Prowler stood from where he knelt. “Please, just come with me and I will explain everything.”

Vanessa shook her head. “You will explain it now.”

“Not with the Spiders here.”

Gwen stepped forward. “Vanessa, you are in danger, and this man is part of that reason.”

“Someone needs to explain what’s going on!” she snapped.

“They’re from another reality,” Peter said quickly, turning from Miles and his panic attack. “I know what it sounds like, but they are from another world, and they want to bring you and Richard back with them.”

“But it will kill you,” Gwen said with a nod. Vanessa’s already white face grew paler.

Miles’ mouth was dry. He tried to say something, anything, to help, but no words would come. He could barely breathe, let alone talk.

Prowler sighed and replaced his mask. “I was hoping to do this the easy way.”

Before Miles knew what was happening, bullets and webs began flying. He screamed. The sound was almost unearthly as he scrambled to a corner and tucked himself there. He grabbed his head and tried to block out the sounds of fighting and gunfire. When he looked at his hands, he was shocked to see that they seemed to be fading in and out of existence. What was happening to him?!

His uncle… was the Prowler? When did _that_ happen? He couldn’t process any of this. Tears were already soaking his mask. With this new revelation, any chance of a return to normalcy was dashed. He had _always_ been a part of this world.

A hand grabbed his shoulder and he reacted as one should. He fired a web at Peter’s face. He fell back, but seemed unhurt. “If you aren’t going to help, then you need to go!” he snapped. He seemed angry. Miles shook his head.

“Kid...!” He didn’t have a chance to finish. Prowler tackled him to the ground, and they struggled as Gwen dodged the bullets, heading for Vanessa. Miles couldn’t breathe. This… This was what he didn’t want! He didn’t want people he knew and cared about in danger. He grabbed his head and squeezed his eyes shut to try and keep the tears from coming. “Go!” Peter shouted, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t move. His legs felt like they were jelly and made of led at the same time. “Get him out of here!”

Again, hands grabbed Miles’ shoulders. He struggled. This time it was Gwen in front of him. She grabbed his shoulders tightly. “Hey… Look at me!” He shook his head. She shook him hard. “Look at me!” He slowly lifted his eyes to her. She chuckled softly. It was a nervous, choking sound. “You need to go. Now.”

“I…I…”

“You _can_.”

He looked up at her, silently begging her to make everything okay. It was a pointless plea. She had no more control over this than he did. He needed to tell her what was happening. He needed to tell her who the Prowler was and why it meant anything.

Before a word could be uttered, a single gunshot rang in the room. Gwen let out a soft gasp. A red spot grew on the abdomen of her costume. Prowler stood on the other side of the room, holding the smoking gun that he must have taken from one of the guards.

Gwen coughed and crumpled to the ground. Miles remained frozen. “I told you to go!” Peter shouted. Miles grabbed Gwen and scurried for the door, leaving the wreckage behind him. He held her tightly as he tore through the building until he came to the end of the hallway where he kicked the window and shot a web. The sound of fighting seemed to have ended behind him as he swung sloppily away.

Their landing was harsh as they fell into a snowdrift and rolled. Miles stopped a few feet from Gwen. He scrambled to her and dropped to his knees beside her. “No… nonononono…” he begged as he put his hands over the bullet wound.

And then he screamed.


	11. Standing Outside the Fire

> Chapter Eleven: Standing Outside the Fire

The air in the lab was quiet and tense. Peter stood near the elevator with his back against the wall and on leg propped up with the sole also resting against the wall behind him. Miles was sitting huddled in the corner with his knees to his chest and his forehead on his knees. If not for the quiet sobs coming from him, Peter would almost believe he was asleep. He clenched his fists. Prowler wasn’t there, having gone out to find Fisk’s son. After Miles’ panic attack, Peter had taken too long in recovering from Gwen getting shot and Prowler had taken him down.

After waking from his momentary unconsciousness, Vanessa was gone and Peter was left to carry Gwen back to the lab with Miles trailing miserably behind him. If he had been an animal, he would have been walking with his tail between his legs and his ears back. Peter looked down at his bloodstained hands and then to the blood that stained the walls where he had walked and touched. This was an utter disaster. No one dared say anything. Even Fisk seemed quiet; but that was probably because Vanessa was none-too-happy about being here. Now he had  _that_  to deal with as well; and would soon have Richard here.

Peter flinched when a door opened, and Superior stepped out of it. “I did all I could, but I’m not wasting anymore time trying to fix  _his_  mistakes,” he said, jabbing a finger at Miles.

Peter stepped in front of the man, blocking his path back to Peni and Olivia. “What does that mean?”

“It means that if I save her, but I don’t finish this damned machine, it won’t matter.” He pushed past Peter and headed back for his lab. Before he opened the door, he paused and sighed, bowing his head. “But she’s stable… for now.”

His stomach dropped. “For now?”

Superior shrugged. “She’s lost a lot of blood and needs a transfusion, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. We have no idea what transfused blood will do in an alternate dimension.”

Peter crossed his arms. “So, we are more crunched for time than we were?”

Superior didn’t answer him. He stepped back into the lab and shut the door, leaving everyone else to sit in silence. The only sound in the room was Miles’ soft whimpers. Peter sighed and walked to him. They needed to talk. “Get up.”

Miles looked up at him. His eyes were wide in a silent, desperate plea, and Peter could see them through the cheap mask. He held out a hand, but Miles shook his head and put his forehead on his knees.

“Kid…Let’s go.”

He shook his head.

Peter scoffed. “Fine,” he snapped, withdrawing his hand. Dealing with Miles was like dealing with a stubborn mule and he was sick of it. Miles was going to get them all killed while they protected him from the harsh reality that he _was_ Spider-man and there was nothing he could do about it. Maybe he was being unfair. Maybe he was being rude. Maybe he was being harsh. Maybe he didn’t care. “Stay down there, then!” He hated that Miles’ panic attack had caused Gwen to get hurt. He hated that he hadn’t been able to stop it.

Everyone left in the room froze at his outburst. Ham stepped forward. “Hey, Pete… maybe you should…”

“Can it, Ham!” Peter snapped. The pig snorted and dropped his ears. Peter turned his attention back to Miles. “You don’t want this job; I get that! What I  _don’t_  get is your insistence that you won’t do  _anything_  to help us!” Miles hugged his knees tighter. “Just because you don’t want it, that doesn’t mean you have the right to get everyone here killed while you try your best not to help!” He threw his hands up. “You got bit by a Spider and you got powers you don’t want. That sucks! But what sucks more is that you apparently are not only unwilling, but incapable of being anything but selfish!”

“I didn’t ask for this!” Miles argued, stammering to his feet.

“None of us did!” Peter shouted. No one moved to defend Miles. Maybe they were scared, too… or maybe they agreed with him. Either way, Ham stepped back from the arguing Spiders. Peter’s anger deflated into the tired mess that he was. He knew Miles was scared. What Miles didn’t know was that Peter was just as scared as he was. He sighed and continued in a much calmer, quieter voice. “You know, you’re right. You can’t do this. Being Spider-man isn’t about wanting the job; it’s about being willing to sacrifice everything  _for_  the job, and you… you just don’t have it.”

Miles let out a soft squeak. He clenched his fists in what looked like preparation to retaliate. Peter wanted him to argue with him. How many times had he thought he wasn’t cut out for this job? How many times had he wanted to quit? He wanted Miles to stand up and say that he  _was_ cut out for it; that he  _could_  do this. Of course, he wasn’t ready. None of them were ready when it came down to actually doing it. Had he been ready the first time he ran into a burning building? Or when he jumped off that building the first time?

Hell no. Nothing prepared them for it. He wanted Miles to assert that one day he _could_ be ready.

But Miles didn’t retort. He didn’t retaliate. Instead, he ran; and Peter just watched him as he opened the elevator door and stepped inside. Peter sighed as he watched the door slide shut. He did nothing to stop the fleeing kid.

“Was that your intention?” Ham asked.

“Shut up,” he murmured. This was an utter disaster. Noir and Gwen were injured, and Miles was a wreck. He turned to Ham. “Go… help Superior, will you?”

Ham snorted. “Fine, but don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

He watched Ham go before looking to Fisk. “I hope you’re happy,” he snapped. The man shrugged, but his face revealed that he wasn’t displeased with the turn of events. He was getting everything he wanted; for now. “You know they’re going to die, don’t you?” he asked, walking towards the man. It was stupid and he didn’t care. “And you’ll be the one who killed them, but what does it matter? In a world of infinite universes, why does it matter how many of your families you kill?” Fisk clenched his massive fist, but that did nothing to deter Peter. “Even if your ridiculous scheme worked, you’re not  _their_  Fisk and you will live with the knowledge that whatever happened to your family can’t be changed, no matter what!”

His sentence was punctuated by Fisk slamming his fist into Peter’s face, sending him flying back to the lab door. He barreled through it and landed looking at the ceiling while Peni and Ham, sitting on one of the lab tables, looked down at him. “You see… That’s what I meant by doing something stupid,” Ham laughed.

Peter groaned and put his hands to his head, clawing at his mask. “I deserved that…”

“Get up,” Superior said without look at him. Peter rolled over to his side and managed to sit, cradling his head in his heads. He stood and stumbled out of the room. Fisk wasn’t there anymore; but MJ was. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes were severe. He was in trouble. He didn’t look at her longer than it took to take in those details before he walked from the room and into their sick bay. Noir was resting peacefully, but Gwen’s breathing was ragged and strained. Guilt hit him in the gut as he looked at two people he had sworn to protect only to watch them fall.

The door opened behind him, but he didn’t look up from Gwen’s exposed abdomen. “Peter…”

“I know,” he said. He had been too hard on Miles. But what else was he supposed to do? “This… this right here is why I can’t have kids,” he whispered. Maybe they could finally resolve that issue.

She put her hands on his back, gently running them down his spine. “Do you really want to do this now?” she asked. He nodded. She needed to hear this while looking at the people he couldn’t protect. “Then I’ll bite.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “Look at what happens, MJ.”

“No one expects you to have all the answers or to save everyone.”

“I do,” he said, turning to her. He always carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. That was his curse. “Growing up, I knew Gwen Stacy. Her father was a police officer and I watched her every time the news came on. No matter what mood she was in, the moment something happened in the city, her face went pale and her eyes watered. She lived in constant fear that every time she saw him, it would be the last. Every time there was something going down in the city, that could be his last mission.” He grabbed her hand. “And why would I bring a kid into this world…  _my_  world knowing what they would go through every day?”

MJ didn’t answer him immediately. Instead, she reached up and removed his mask. He took a step back. “You know that you deserve to be happy too, right?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I just made a kid run out of here crying.”

She smiled a soft, sad grin. “Then go get him.”

“What?”

“I remember the scared young man who unmasked for me when he was terrified. I get that maybe you don’t know what to do, but he needs someone to tell him that it’s going to be okay.”

“But I can’t promise him that,” Peter argued. He looked down at the two injured people. “I can’t promise him that his life will be any better… or that things will work out eventually. That’s not fair to give him that hope.”

She shrugged. “If he doesn’t have that hope, then what else can he possibly have?”

Peter looked away from her and frowned. He, like always, had no answer.

 

Miles hated everything. It wasn’t just that Peter had yelled at him. Yeah, that stung, but it wasn’t like he was wrong. Miles  _wasn’t_  the right person for the job. Anyone else in any world could already be doing a better job than he was. What other person traveled to another dimension and got someone shot on their first day as a superhero? He had screwed things up so momentously that it affected an entire reality. This whole mess…? It was his fault and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He didn’t have the power, experience or will to save them; or to even try.

Peter was right. He wasn’t cut out to be Spider-man.

He clenched his fists as he walked down the streets of Manhattan. The sounds of people bustling around, minding their own business faded into the background. It was all just white noise; a soundtrack to a life he felt he didn’t belong to anymore. No one paid him any mind as he walked. Why would they? It was New York in a world where Spider-man lived. It probably wasn’t weird to see a kid dressed up like his hero.

He reached up and ripped the mask off, holding it in his hands. It didn’t fit. It never would. He discarded the cheaply made thing on the ground. It stood out in the white snow like a bloodstain. He kicked some powder over it and headed down the sidewalk.

His walk was aimless. He bumped into a few people walking while on their phones and mumbled a tired apology. He envied their ignorance. How long ago was it that he wasn’t the main character of some convoluted story full of interdimensional travel and murder? When did his life become a freakshow?

Eventually he came to the base of a skyscraper. His eyes traveled up the large office building. A part of his mind told him to scale it. He had the powers. They were in there somewhere; he just had to find them. He scoffed at the thought, but before he could walk away, something called him. Maybe the building held his only escape. Peter had said that the only way to do this job was to jump. Maybe it was also the only way out of it. He turned into the alley and looked at his hands once out of sight.

Miles snuck into the building and then into the stairwell. Yesterday, the climb to the roof would have been hard and daunting, but he jogged up the stairs without stopping. It only caused him to be slightly winded by the time he got to the top. He stared out at the skyline and clenched his fists. This was what they saw when they saw the city. They didn’t see the burden of their powers; they saw the beauty. But he couldn’t feel that same way. All he felt was nausea.

He walked to the edge of the building and held out his arms to his side, feeling the wind. Nothing would ever be the same. No matter what, even if he decided to never try to be Spider-man again, even if he never used his powers again, he could never look at Aaron the same way. He would deal with a world where he could have saved Peter Parker but did nothing instead.

The one fact that stuck out like a sore thumb was that his life had never been normal. He had always been a part of this world. And now he couldn’t escape it. Every time Aaron would leave, Miles would know. Every time his father mentioned some sort of crime, Miles would think who else he knew could be a part of it. His life as he knew it was over. The life he had thought he knew never existed. Any chance of normalcy that he might have regained died the moment Aaron removed that mask.

“I’m not cut out for this job,” he said to the wind. He wanted to scream as he looked down at the web shooters on his wrist; relics of a world he belonged to, but wanted no part in. He closed his eyes. This wasn’t his world. He didn’t have a place in it, but he could never escape it. With a deep breath, he stepped forward.

The freezing wind hit his unmasked face like being attacked with a piece of ice. He kept his eyes closed as he plummeted towards to concrete below. The splat at the end of the fall would end everything. He could escape this reality. He could escape the life he didn’t want. It wouldn’t matter who Prowler was because Miles would no longer have to deal with it. His time was running out. If he had these powers and he couldn’t be Spider-man, what was the point?

The universe chose him, and it had chosen wrong.

His eyes snapped open and he saw the ground coming at him a breakneck speed. The impact would kill him instantly and that thought sent adrenaline through his body. He had the tools to stop this free fall. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to see his parents again. He wanted another shot at Vision Academy. Peter’s voice echoed in his head; sound and solid advice.  _Aim with your hips…_ Miles aimed the shooters and fired. The first shot hit nothing, and panic started rising, but the second snagged a building. The sudden stop would have yanked out a normal person’s shoulder, but he wasn’t normal anymore. He fired another web and yanked forward, throwing himself back into the air.

The feeling was exhilarating. It was probably the closest he would ever come to flying. The wind smacked him in the face, but this time it was more like a splash of refreshing water instead of unforgiving ice. No one was there to shout at him about what he was doing and how. He released the webbing and fired another, starting a pendulum arc. He released at the top of the arc, twisting in the air like a cat. Despite his heart pounding out of his chest and the feeling that his stomach was trying to escape through his mouth, Miles let out a loud  _whoop_ as he released and propelled himself forward.

He careened towards the side of a skyscraper and instead of firing a web to start another arc, he landed firm on one of the windows. At first, his feet and hands slipped. Panic rose again and his heart pounded like a man trying to escape a deathtrap. He took as deep a breath as he could and tried to steel his nerves. The lock came and he stuck. Thrill passed through him. A part of him couldn’t believe that he was sticking to the side of a skyscraper.

He started climbing up the building. He was slow at first; testing his limits. His feet slipped a couple times, but after several yards, he started crawling faster until he was at a gallop and then a full-blown sprint with just his feet. His breath was coming fast and hard as he ran. Once he got to the top of the building, he sprinted to the other side, and without hesitation, he jumped. This time, he didn’t need the webbing. He landed hard on the other roof and kept running, leaping the gaps between the buildings and using air conditioner units and other things on the roofs as parkour platforms.

He jumped from the next building, fired both webs and then launched himself into the air. He landed on a gargoyle in a crouch and put his hands to his chest, gasping for air. Even as he gasped, he laughed, his body shaking with giddiness.

The clapping behind him nearly made him fall off his perch. He spun around to see Peter standing behind him. The older man said nothing as he came to sit on the edge beside Miles. Neither spoke for several minutes. “You had me worried,” Peter admitted at length. “I thought I was going to have to save you.” Miles chuckled. “Miles… What I said…”

“Is true,” he said, cutting Peter off. “You’re right. I’m not ready to be Spider-man… but… I want to see if I will _ever_ be ready.”

“You’ll never know if you’re ready,” he said without looking at Miles. He turned to see what Peter was staring at. The skyline was gorgeous, and Miles couldn’t believe that he had the powers to see it. “It’s a leap of faith…” Peter continued. His voice was distant. “That’s all it is, kid… a leap of faith.”

 


	12. Vindicated

> Chapter Twelve: Vindicated 

“It’s finished,” Otto said, stepping back from his work. The machine was much smaller than he had anticipated; only taking up the entirety of the lab. Alone, this would have taken weeks or months to complete, but with three of the most brilliant minds he had ever encountered and the groundwork already figured out by Olivia, they had finished it in less than 24 hours. He rubbed his hands together and turned to his female counterpart. “A job well done,” he said with a soft laugh.

“That’s it?” Ham asked, looking up at the machine. “I thought it’d be bigger.”

“We didn’t need to cast as wide of a net, so we didn’t need a massive machine,” Olivia explained. She passed a tablet to Otto and he took it, looking down as she talked to Ham about the schematics. Otto turned to Peni and she shrugged.

“I need to add one more touch,” she said to Olivia.

“My design is perfect,” she retorted.

“Almost.”

Olivia narrowed her eyes, but Otto grabbed her shoulder. “We should let Mr. Fisk know that we will be turning it on soon. We haven’t much time, and if he doesn’t have his son, then he won’t do what we need him to do.” Olivia snorted and walked out of the room. Otto nodded to Peni and then motioned Ham to follow them. The less people who knew about this, the better.

Getting Fisk into the beam would be a battle in and of itself. They needed to make sure he didn’t know what was happening until it was too late. No one had seemed to argue with using him as their sacrificial lion, but that was because the Peter of this world wasn’t involved. The Peter of his own world would be having a field day. He’d probably throw himself into that beam.

“Mr. Fisk,” Olivia said. She walked up to the hulking man without a hint of fear. Even though Otto was sure that she could hold her own against Fisk, he was still impressed with her confidence. Not many people could look up at a man like Fisk without even the slightest hint of fear or awe.

Fisk turned to her. “Is the machine ready?” he asked.

“Almost,” Otto said as he walked up. Ham was walking up beside him and he snorted when Otto spoke. Otto tried to ignore the pig. “Peni if putting the final touches to the machine.”

“We don’t need it to look good,” Fisk said, rolling his eyes. Otto resisted the urge to retort in a similarly annoyed tone. These things needed a steady hand.

“Of course, but we are opening an interdimensional portal,” Otto explained in a cold, even tone. His voice had no emotion in it as he tried to keep everything steady. “It is best that we make sure nothing can go wrong.” He started for the elevator, motioning Ham to follow him. The pig snorted softly and hurried to the elevator.

Once they were inside and the door was shut, Otto gripped the railing. Too much of this mission was going to the wayside. He liked being in control of situations, and this didn’t feel like he was in control. It felt like he was trying to play catch up at every move. Then there was the matter of the emotionally unstable Peter and the terrified Miles. If those two were a little more in control of their emotions, this would be going a lot smoother.

“So… what touches are you putting on?” Ham asked.

Otto looked down at the swine. It was strange that he was already used to seeing the beast. “Peni is just making sure that when the machine turns on, it won’t destroy five city blocks.”

“Would you settle for three?” Ham asked. Otto rolled his eyes with a sigh that conveyed the message. “You really don’t like jokes, do you? Are you sure you’re Spider-man?”

He huffed loudly. “I  _am_  Spider-man.”

“No need to be defensive.”

Otto rolled his eyes again and leaned on the wall behind him. “Right now, we need to evacuate the immediate area. If something goes wrong, the only people who should die for it is us.”

The door to the elevator opened and Harry was waiting for them with his arms crossed. “How goes it?”

Otto smiled. “Mr. Osborn! Just the man I needed to see. Is this building cleared of all personnel?”

Harry didn’t smile back at him. Clearly, he didn’t see the humor of this situation. “You guys aren’t going to blow up my building…” He paused and the color left his face a little. “Are you?” Those next words were nearly a squeak.

Otto wanted to tell him that everything would be okay and this was a controlled experiment, but that would be a lie. He didn’t know what would happen the moment they turned on that machine. “Science… has its variables, Mr. Osborn. The son of the Green Goblin should know that better than anyone.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “Is my father the Green Goblin in  _every_  reality?”

Otto shrugged. “Perhaps. It seems that destiny is inescapable; but I wouldn’t put it past some other dimension where you and your father have a healthy relationship that isn’t marred by a terrible transformation.” He wasn’t known for putting things the easy way.

Harry clearly didn’t appreciate the comment. “Anyway,” he snapped, “yes the building is clear. Do you guys need anything else?”

“Yes. Call the police. It would be good if we had a hard perimeter. If… something happens, we don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

Harry narrowed his eyes further, but he merely sighed, relenting. “As long as you guys don’t get me sued and don’t get anyone else but yourselves hurt.”

Otto beamed. “Peter is lucky to have a friend like you.”

He shook his head and turned, heading towards the phone. “Peter and I aren’t friends.”

Otto shrugged and looked down at Ham with a half grin. Ham jumped onto the counter while Harry called the police. “So, the machine works, right?” he asked.

Again, Otto wanted to tell them that everything was going to be okay and that he had everything handled, but he didn’t want to lie through his teeth. “It  _should_  work,” he said truthfully. “Science isn’t something that we can predict the outcome of something like this. This is new territory for us. We have done everything in our power to make this work. But… we’d need a miracle for it to work.”

Ham shrugged, looking up at the sky. “Things in my world blow up all the time.”

Otto studied the cartoon animal. Yes… he remembered watching the ultraviolent cartoons of his childhood; where people and animals survived 1,000-foot drops, getting shot in the face, getting blow up and getting dismembered. “Perhaps in your world there are no real consequences. Unfortunately, in our worlds, an explosion is a real and terrible thing. People will die.”

Ham looked down at his… hands? “Die?” he asked. Otto nodded. “I…”

“Maybe you don’t understand, pig, but you will.” If nothing went right in the next hour or so, Ham would be getting an up close and personal look at death. They all would. Before he could scare the pig further, Harry came back to them.

“The area will be evacuated within twenty minutes.” He paused and then looked up at Otto with almost pleading eyes. “I’m begging you… please do not blow up my building.”

“No promises.”

Harry waited, as if hoping that Otto would show him some sort of sign that he was joking. No sign came. “Okay…” he said hesitantly. “What else do you guys need?”

“For you to vacate the building as well. We will handle things from here.”

Harry made to argue, but Otto gave him a look that said that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. The young man nodded and started for the door. “Harry!” Otto called. He stopped. “I need your gun.”

Harry scoffed. “What makes you think I carry a gun?”

“Don’t make a fool of me.” He held out his hand. “Gun. Now.”

He relented and reached into the consealed holster, bringing out a small pistol. Otto took the weapon and placed it in one of the pouches on his suit. He didn’t like using guns and he knew Peter hated them, but they were beneficial in the situation that he knew he was about to walk into. “Thank you. Now… get as far away from here as possible.” Harry narrowed his eyes and headed out the door, probably praying that there would be a building for him to return to tomorrow. Otto waved at him and just as he left, the door opened, revealing Prowler and another young man following at his side. “Richard Fisk, I suspect,” Otto said. Prowler gave him no indication that he was correct.

But Richard did. “What the hell is Spider-man doing working with these goons?” he snapped.

Otto sighed. “We aren’t working with them because we want to, I assure you. It is merely a mutual understanding that we need each other to survive.” He wanted to tell Richard that everything was going to be okay, but if he displayed that kind of confidence, Prowler would get suspicious. “I trust that you’ve been informed of that we are doing here.”

Richard narrowed his eyes. “”Something about crossing dimensions.”

“Exactly.” He nodded to the door as Peter and Miles, now masked, stepped into the building.

“Hello, Richard…” Peter greeted.

Richard did a double take of the three Spider-men in the room. “What…?”

“Alternate dimensions,” Otto said with a shrug. “Come on. We haven’t much time.” The seizures weren’t getting stronger, but they were getting more frequent. He didn’t want to be around to see what happened if they didn’t make it in time. “Take him upstairs.”

Prowler nodded slowly and they headed for the elevator. Clearly, Prowler had told Richard that they already had his mother and if he wanted to see her alive again, he’d best cooperate. Peter motioned to Miles to wait for him on the other side of the room. The kid nodded and did as he was told.

Once he was out of earshot, Peter grabbed Otto’s arm. “Tell me you have a plan,” he whispered. The urgency in his voice was hard to ignore. Otto bit back an annoyed retort about how Peter should have been more worried about the machine and less worried about Miles’ mental state. It would be better not to start an argument; not when they were this close to completing their mission. “One of us needs to have a plan,” he came back. “Come on… The machine is finished.”

The elevator came down and the four stepped inside in silence. Everything was in silence. It was like no one wanted to speak in fear of ruining something that none of them could really pinpoint. Once the door opened, Otto took a survey of the room. He could see Peni and Olivia working on the machine, and Fisk was talking quickly to Richard, who was arguing right back at him. “Look… the machine needs someone to filter through it,” he muttered to Peter. Telling him was probably a mistake, but he needed to know. If something happened, Peter would have to make choices that were uncomfortable.

“Let me guess… Someone dies?”

Otto sighed. “We… we don’t know, but it probably won’t be a good time. Fisk has what he wants, but you know what will happen if Vanessa and Richard get into that portal. We’d be dooming them to death.”

“You want to put Fisk in that beam,” Peter deduced. Otto sometimes forgot that this overweight man was smarter than he looked. Otto shrugged. “The answer is no.”

“I’m not asking.” He turned and started towards the lab, but Peter grabbed his arm. “I get that you don’t want to do it my way, Peter, but this is the way that the least amount of people will die. I’m trying to save the people who deserve to be saved.”

Peter gripped his arm tighter. “That’s not our job to decide.”

“No. That’s not  _your_  job,” Otto snapped, ripping his arm from Peter’s grip. “While you’re sitting here trying to save a criminal, I’m going to save everyone else in this room.” He walked to the lab and shut the door behind him, sighing deeply.

“Peter seems a little…”

“Bothersome?” he asked. Peni shrugged. “He is. Is the machine ready?” He didn’t want to deal with Peter. If he had to jump into the beam himself to save Fisk, Otto wasn’t going to hold him back.

“All modifications complete.”

Otto smiled at her, and then he put on his mask. Now was the dicey part… getting Fisk to hold still long enough. Before he could step out of the room, Peter stepped inside. Otto narrowed his eyes and stepped back, looking at the man. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“Yes. Noir and Gwen are ready to be moved, but…”

Otto sighed. He knew where this was going. “You don’t want to drop them off without knowing where they are going,” he deduced. Peter nodded. “Well, you can enter into Gwen’s world and die over there if you want, but right now we can’t do much to help them. If they can’t survive in their world, that’s not our fault or our problem.”

Peter’s bleeding heart was going to get him killed, but that wasn’t Otto’s problem either. Getting everyone home was his initiative and that was all he could do. He couldn’t be expected to do everything. The machine wasn’t even up and running yet. “I don’t know why you became a Spider-man,” Peter snapped.

“To save people,” Otto retorted. “And to save myself. I would be dead if not for this… job, and I will be damned if I let myself be killed after what I’ve been through to be alive today! If you want to risk everything to save them, then so be it, but this isn’t _my_ New York and once they are out of this world, they are no longer my problem.” Peter stammered but had no words of retort. “Now, are you going to help me, or are you going to try and stop this? Because if no one steps in that beam, we _all_ die.”

Peter looked down at the ground, kicking his feet. It was like scolding a child; but Otto knew what was going through that young man’s head. So, when he lifted his gaze, his next words didn’t surprise Otto in the slightest. “Then I will be the one in that beam.”

Otto laughed. So predictable. “Don’t be stupid. This city needs you.”

“This city needs a hero. It settles for me.”

This was interesting. The Peter he had stolen this life from wasn’t the picture of happiness and joy, but he also wasn’t one step away from self loathing at any given moment. How different were the Peters throughout the universes? He supposed that in a world of infinite possibilities, anything that could happen _would_. That meant that there were Peters of all personalities types out there. Including one that hated himself a bit too much.

“Look, you want to sacrifice yourself, then don’t let me stop you, but I still believe that it should be Fisk getting into that beam… And I have a way to do it.” He bit his lip, clenching his fists. “But Peter… You _have_ to trust me.”

“I don’t,” Peter said and then he left, quickly replaced by Fisk, his family, Olivia and Prowler. Otto fingered the gun in his pouch as Peter and Miles returned with their patients. Peni looked at him and her face was full of terror. She knew what was about to happen. Olivia walked to the machine. She knew what was up as well.

Otto slapped his hands together. “Alright, ladies and gentlemen,” he called. “I will begin by saying that this is a momentous occasion.” He turned to Fisk and smirked. “Unfortunately, not everyone gets to leave this room alive.” A ripple of fear came across the room. Miles took a step closer to Peter and, ironically, he was the only one who was calm. “We need someone to filter this technology, and Mr. Fisk, since this is your mess, you must pay to clean it up.”

Fisk clenched his fists and started advancing. Otto smiled. Predictable as always. He pulled out the gun and aimed it. The air in the room became electrified and everyone froze. Everyone save for Olivia. “Screw this,” she snapped. “If this world has to perish--!”

“Don’t,” Otto said without looking at her. He knew that she had her hand on the off switch. “Peni and I have put in a failsafe. If the device is turned on while no one is there to filter it, it will cause an explosion strong enough to kill everyone in this room and reduce a three-block radius to ash. If you wish to do that, please… press the button. We’ve evacuated the area. You’d only kill us.”

Olivia cursed and Otto smirked. Fisk let out a loud howl and charged him, but that was what he wanted. Otto lunged over the charging bull, kicking him forward. He landed firmly between Vanessa and Richard. “Apologies, ma’am,” he said. His tone was still very polite despite his violent actions. He kicked Richard away, making sure to hit him in the head, and then he brought the gun down on Vanessa. She went limp and he grabbed her before she dropped.

Again, the room froze when he put the barrel to her head. “Mr. Fisk… I don’t want to do this, but you may leave me no choice.”

Fisk turned and narrowed his eyes before he let out a loud, boisterous laugh. “I know you! You wouldn’t _dare_ harm an innocent woman. You don’t put anyone’s life above anyone else’s.” He took a step forward. “Do it. I _dare you,_ Peter Parker.”

Otto returned Fisk’s humorous gaze with his own, somber eyes. Even though no one could see his expression, he knew he needed them to know that this was serious. He cocked the gun. “Unfortunately for you, Wilson… I’m _not_ Peter Parker.”


	13. Whatever it Takes

 

> Chapter Thirteen: Whatever it Takes

Peter couldn’t move. This man…  _wasn’t_  Peter Parker. “Then who the hell are you?” he blurted out before he could stop himself. He refrained from approaching Superior. Now that he knew the man they were dealing with wasn’t a version of Peter Parker, this was a wrench in the machine. He was unpredictable; and that made him dangerous.

Superior let out a long sigh. “My name is Doctor Otto Octavius, and---”

“ _What_?” Peter gasped, cutting off Octavius before he could explain further. Maybe he should have let him continue, because someone had to explain what was going on here!

Olivia recovered from the revelation the quickest. She stepped forward and Peter’s breath caught. The thing to do right now would be to  _not_  agitate the man with a loaded gun to an unconscious women’s head. She looked over Superior, moving her eyes from his head to his feet, as if trying to find some proof of his claim. “What have you done, Doctor?”

Superior didn’t flinch back. He stood a bit taller and tightened his grip on Vanessa. Peter tensed, preparing to lunge if he had to. “I did what I was needed to survive,” he answered; but he wasn’t looking at her. He was facing Peter. It was almost like he wanted no one else in that room but Peter to understand. “I was dying. I had no other choice.”

Peter wanted to know more. He had seen Superior unmasked. He  _was_  Peter Parker! But he refrained from asking a thousand questions. Now wasn’t the time to deal with this. They still needed to get everyone home. Whatever  _this_  was, he couldn’t deal with it at the moment. They were still on a time table. “Okay…” he said evenly, holding out his hands. The thing to do now wasn’t to agitate him. “Why don’t you put down Vanessa and let’s talk about this?”

Otto shook his head. “You need to listen to me, Peter,  _this_  is the only way. Either we all die, or only one of us does.”

Before Peter could argue that there had to be a way for  _no one_  to die, his Spider senses shot, but he couldn’t distinguish where it was coming from. Behind him, Miles screamed, and it was cut off as Prowler put his hand over Miles’ mouth. Peter spun and jumped back, putting space between him, Prowler and Fisk; making a triangle.

Fisk smiled. “Alright, Doctor…  _Now_  we are at an impasse. Let. Her. Go.” He motioned to Prowler and Miles. “Or I will ask my associate here to snap this kid’s neck.” As if preparing to do just that, Prowler got his hand in a position to twist Miles’ neck. Miles squeaked and Peter wished he could reassure him that everything would be okay. But he’d be lying. He was between a rock and hard place with this one. Otto was holding most of the cards, and Fisk had the remaining ones.

Otto laughed softly, but it was somehow strained. “Do you think I give a damn about that boy? I don’t care who has to die to get me home.”

“Really?” Fisk asked. There was disbelief in his voice. Surely there wasn’t a Spider-man who would let an innocent kid die.

 _Fisk doesn’t realize… This man_ isn’t _Spider-man. He’s Otto Octavius. Miles… is dead…_ Peter realized and with that realization, his blood turned cold and his breathing became shallow. Someone was going to die. Someone  _had_  to die. Or they all were going to die.

“Yes,” Otto confirmed. His voice was even without a hint of fear or hesitation. Whatever strain that had been in his voice was gone.

Fisk nodded to Prowler, who began applying pressure to Miles’ jaw and head. Miles squeaked and squirmed, unable to open his mouth to scream. Otto didn’t move or show any sign that he gave a single care about Miles’ well-being.

Peter clenched his fists. Someone… had… to die. And it wasn’t going to be Miles. “Stop!” he shouted, stepping forward. “For God’s sake, I’ll get in that beam, just leave the kid alone!”

Prowler released Miles on Fisk’s nod and he dropped to his knees, gasping and shaking. Peter felt just as sick as Miles looked on his knees, gasping for air. He was glad for the mask, because he knew that his face had gone pale if his shaking hands were any indication. What had he done? What had he agreed to?

 _It’s got to be someone,_ he thought miserably.  _So, it might as well be me…_

He scanned everyone in the room. No one else stepped forward to volunteer. He was sure that Gwen would if given the chance, but she and Noir were out cold. The rest were villains and a young boy who wasn’t ready to die. “On one condition,” he added quickly. “Vanessa and Richard remain here, in the world they belong to.”

Fisk clenched his fists at the demand. Now Peter was holding all the cards. If Fisk wanted to live, he had to be willing to take Peter’s sacrifice with all its conditions.  “Fine,” Fisk grumbled, but Peter wasn’t born yesterday. They would get Noir and Gwen home before continuing this. The less cards Fisk had to play with, the better. He walked towards the door to the lab.

Otto walked after him with Miles sitting on the floor. Otto grabbed his arm. “You don’t have to do this.”

“You were right,” Peter admitted begrudgingly. “I spent all this time trying to save a criminal. Sometimes there’s no way to save everyone. If someone has to die, why shouldn’t it be me?” He opened the door and stepped out of the room. Miles scurried after him and Otto remained where he was.

“Pete?” Miles whispered once the door shut behind them. Peter lifted his hand, silencing him. There was only one person he wanted to talk to; but he had already sent her away. He walked through the lab. Everything seemed old and new at the same time.

He pulled out his phone and cradled the broken device before dialing MJ’s number. She answered on the first ring. “Peter!” she gasped. “Is it done?”

He laughed softly. After everything that they had been through the past forty-eight hours, he had thought there was hope that they could rekindle their relationship. Maybe he could change for her… be _better._ He could try to be better for her. “No… we haven’t finished yet.”

She didn’t speak for a moment. “Pete… what’s wrong?”

He shook his head. Of course… she could tell something was wrong just by the tone of his voice. He wished he hadn’t contacted her after Peter Parker had been announced dead. She had already lost him once; now she had to lose him again. “MJ… I… I wanted to try harder for you.” His voice choked. He was willing to do this for them. They may or may not deserve his sacrifice, but Miles didn’t deserve to die like this.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t want you to blame yourself. I want you to move on from this.”

“Peter…”

He didn’t let her continue. “I need to do this. That kid deserves to live.”

Her voice cracked when she spoke and he could hear it shaking. “Peter… whatever you think you have to do…! You deserve to be happy, too! Whatever this is… Don’t—”

“I _do_ have to do this! I know you don’t understand, but—”

“Cut the crap, Peter! You always have the choice to walk away!”

“Not this time,” he whispered. There was anger in her voice and he wanted to be mad at her for that anger. But he understood that anger. He wanted to be angry at how unfair life was. Yes, Fisk should be the one to die; but a man like Fisk wasn’t going to willingly give up his life. That left the good people who would. It wasn’t fair. “I may have a choice, but the alternative is someone else. If it has to be someone…”

“It doesn’t _have_ to be you!” MJ shouted.

“If I’m the only one willing to step up. With great power—”

“Don’t you _dare_ pull that!” she snapped. He gripped the phone tightly, almost cracking it. He’d give anything to see her face one last time. “This has nothing to do with your spider powers!”

“I have the power to do something, and if I don’t, then it’s my fault that these people die.” HE paused and pulled in a shaking breath. “I love you, MJ.”

“Peter!”

He wanted her to say it back. He wanted to hear it, but he didn’t say that to her. What would be the point of hearing it if she didn’t offer it willingly? “Good-bye…”

“Peter… I…” Her voice choked and he heard he swallow. “I love you, too, Pete…” He wished he could hug her, but instead he listened to her cry over the phone until the line went dead on the other side. He took the phone in his hand and threw it towards the wall, hoping to shatter it. A bit of webbing flew towards the phone, grabbing it.

“I bet you don’t want to destroy this,” Otto said, tossing the phone back at him. Peter grabbed it out of the air. “Are you ready? We just had another seizure.”

Peter looked down at his hand. The entire time, he was the only one who had been safe. Now, he was the one who had to die. “You took your world’s Peter’s body… didn’t you?” he muttered.

“Yes,” Otto answered. “I was dying. It was the only way I could survive.”

Peter laughed softly. “IS that supposed to make me feel better about it.”

“No… But I thought it would help you understand.”

He did understand, but he wasn’t the one who would let others die to save his own life. “Will it hurt?” he asked. It was the only question he wanted answered.

Otto could have lied to him. Instead, he just nodded solemnly. “It will be excruciating.”

 

Miles watched as Peter stepped back into the lab. He looked up at the man through the holes in his mask. Peter tried to offer him some sort of comfort. There was no comfort to be had. This wasn’t right. He clenched his fists and stood.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” Olivia snapped. Peter was moving Vanessa and Richard away from the room, and Fisk watched him with interest. Peter stopped by Miles as he walked back into the room. He put his hands on Miles’ shoulder.

“You’ll be okay, kid…” he whispered softly. “This job… is terrible, and scary, but I know you’ll be able to handle it…” He paused. Miles felt the tears pushing at the back of his eyelids. He tried to keep them from falling but the lump was growing. “If you want it, that is.”

Miles wished he could see Peter’s face. It wasn’t right that he had to die for them; but Miles was too scared to step up to the plate. Peter patted him on the head. “Are you scared?”

“Yes,” Peter said with a soft laugh. “But we’ve learned that it’s okay to be scared. Don’t worry about me. Don’t waste your life, kid. Take that leap.”

Miles forced a smile as Peter stepped away from him. He shook his head as he watched Peter go. “Finally,” Olivia snapped. “Let’s go.”

Peni walked to Peter and hugged him tightly and then led him to where he needed to stand. Otto showed him what to hold onto. He patted Peter on the back and nodded, whispering something to him. Peter nodded and Otto walked away from him. He gripped the bar tightly, deforming it. This wasn’t fair.

Olivia walked to the switch and nodded to Fisk and Prowler before reaching for it. “W-wait!” Peter shouted. It was a primal, fearful shout. Olivia paid him no heed. She slammed her hand down. A multicolored beam shot from a box, through Peter, and then projected a bubbling portal Peter’s distorted screams were haunting. Otto grabbed Gwen and Noir and nodded to the others. It was surprising how calm he was with everything.

It was as he was putting Gwen and Noir into the portal that Fisk made his move. He ran towards where his family was. Ham lunged at the hulk of a man, but he grabbed the swine and threw him hard against the wall. Miles froze. The portal was open… He could jump through and forget this. If he stopped Fisk, his own life would be in danger for the rest of his life; regardless of if he never put on the mask again.

He turned to Peter. The image of a man being torn apart at his atoms was horrific. But what was more horrific was the thought of wasting Peter’s sacrifice. He took a deep breath. _It’s a leap of faith…_ He ran at Fisk and lunged. He was a child and his body weight was nothing compared to Fisk’s mass; but it was enough to unbalance him for a moment.

Fisk grabbed Miles and hurled him back into Aaron’s arms. “Let me go!” Miles pleaded as Prowler started dragging him towards the portal. “Please!” Fisk grabbed Vanessa and Richard. “They’ll die!” he pleaded. He kicked his uncle between the legs and shoved him away. Prowler recovered quickly and went for Miles, and he met the man in mid-lunge. The two fell to the ground.

Prowler was better trained than he was and quickly overpowered him, grabbing his neck and squeezing. Miles gasped for air, grasping as the arm that was cutting off his air supply. “Pl=please!” he gasped. “Uncle Aaron… Please…”

Aaron gasped and his grip went slack. “Miles?”

Miles did nothing to verify his identity. He scrambled away from Prowler and ran at Fisk. He’d protect them… even if it was the last thing he ever did. He jumped onto the man and scrambled over him. The panic in him was causing his body to become electric as he crawled on Fisk. He needed to end this… and quickly.

Fisk grabbed Miles and threw him towards the portal. Miles flailed and shot a web, but he didn’t aim at anything. Otto ran and grabbed the webbing, slingshotting Miles back towards Fisk. Miles made a note to thank him. Otto ran for Fisk as well, but out of the corner of Miles’ eyes, he was Olivia tackling her otherworldly counterpart.

Fisk caught Miles out of the air and slammed him to the ground. “Insect!” he shouted. “You will not get in the way of me and my family!” He brought his fast down, rattling Miles’ skull. His vision went white, but he still struggled to get back up.

“You’ll only kill them!”

Fisk aimed another hard punch, hitting Miles squarely on the side of his head. He stumbled off and fell to his knees, gasping. “You know nothing!”

“I know enough, man…” he gasped. “I’ve seen heroes… _real_ heroes… Real _families!_ ” He stumbled back to his feet. “If you truly loved them… You would care about their lives! You wouldn’t do this!”

“Insolent child!” Fisk shouted. He aimed what would be a killing blow to Miles’ head, but the blow never came. Prowler was holding the man’s fist, preventing the attack. It took Miles a moment to figure out what was happening, but when he did, he nodded. Miles ran the other direction and then he fired his webs at the wall on either side of the portal. He jumped into the air and slingshotted himself forward. He hit Fisk and used his electricity for one more push forward. Fisk went flying. Olivia tried to grab him, but before she could, the man flew through the portal. His angry screams echoed through the portal and faded as he did. Olivia cursed and jumped in after him.

“Go! It won’t hold much longer!” Otto shouted. Miles took one last look at everyone there before running through the portal, lunging in before he could think about how much he had left to do on this side.

 

Otto hadn’t been lying. The pain was the worst pain Peter had ever felt. It felt like his body was being torn apart atom by atom, slowly… painfully. Even if he had regretted his choice, he couldn’t move. He witnessed Miles’ fight with Fisk and then he thought he could rest easy knowing that Miles was safe now in his own world.

Otto was the last one through the portal. “I’m sorry!” he shouted. Peter could barely hear him over the beam and the pounding in his ear. He wanted to acknowledge what had been done… and that it was okay. He was okay with this. But he couldn’t speak. “Thank you!” And then he was gone.

The beam continued for several more minutes before it finally sputtered out and died. At first, Peter felt nothing. He was still standing upright and a tiny part of his brain held onto the hope that what he had done wasn’t fatal. Maybe… He took a couple of steps towards the door and reached for his phone. Maybe…

His knees buckled and he crashed to the cold lab floor. His phone fell from his hands and slid just out of reach. After a moment, he tried to get onto his hands and knees, but his body didn’t feel solid anymore. When he looked at his hands, he saw that they were glitching out. He couldn’t breathe, but he didn’t feel like he was suffocating. HE felt his body fading away; glitching and twitching. His vision blurred and the room swam and shifted like a corrupted program. He knew that it wasn’t the world that was failing; it his mind.

 _I’m okay with this…_ he thought distantly. _He’s safe… They’re all safe_ … _I could do one good thing with this wasted life of mine._ His hand shuddered and became almost transparent. The lack of a body would be good. That was an odd thought to end on, but he fixated on it. No one would have to try and explain how there were two bodies for Peter Parker.

 _Whatever it takes…_ he had promised Miles. The world around him fell away and faded. In his fading consciousness, he heard his phone begin to ring. 

_It took everything…_


	14. A Leap of Faith

> Chapter 14: A Leap of Faith

When Miles opened his eyes, he was standing outside of Fisk tower. He looked at his hands, turning them over. The suit was still on. He ran from the building, not wanting to stick around long enough to see if Fisk, Olivia and Aaron made it back alive. He jumped into the air and fired a web, swinging away from the building. His form was as sloppy as ever, but he knew he could one day learn to control his swinging.

He landed hard on the ground near his house and ran for it. The clothes around him glitched, along with the webshooters. They didn’t belong to this world and, like they were once in danger of being, they would vanish entirely. Tears fell from his eyes as he took off the mask, discarding it in the snow. Peter… both Peters that he had known, were dead. His phone was gone, but he knew that there were probably missed calls from both his parents. He had no way of knowing how long he had been gone.

When he got nearer to his house, he slowed down, trying to give himself enough time to calm down. It wouldn’t do for him to be an emotional wreck when he got back to his home. As he walked, he cried until his tears wouldn’t come anymore. Peter Parker was dead, and he had done nothing to stop it.

But he had saved Vanessa and Richard… and that had to count for something. Miles looked down at his clothes as he stepped up to the front door of his house. He’d have to explain this to them. He couldn’t tell them about his powers. He couldn’t tell them about where he had been, but he needed them to know that he was okay. He walked to the door and knocked. It was the middle of the night, but he knew that they were still awake.

It only took a moment before the door swung open, revealing his mother in the doorway. She didn’t react for a moment as her gaze washed over him; taking in the bruises. “Mom…” he squeaked. The tears he thought he had used up came flooding back to him. Rio ran at Miles and hugged him tightly as her own tears started. His father hung back, watching them with watery eyes. “I’m sorry…” he cried, leaning into her embrace. “I am _so_ sorry…!”

_One Week Later…_

After everything had settled, Miles had been grounded for the rest of his life. He tried explaining what had happened without actually explaining anything, but all he could say was “the pressure had gotten to him, so he ran away.” The silence in the police car was deafening. “Dad…” he whispered, unable to bear the lack of a conversation between them. “Do you… really hate Spider-man?”

The news had been that Spider-man went missing a week and a half ago. Only Miles knew the truth of where he was. Jefferson sighed. “Yeah…” he muttered, then shook his head. “No… That’s a lie. Hate is a strong word… I don’t hate him; I just wished he would work with us instead of against us.”

Miles stared out the window. “Do you really think that he was trying to work against you?” he asked. “Or was he just trying to do what he thought was best?”

His father shrugged. “Why the sudden interest?” he asked.

“I don’t know… I guess I never thought about what it would be like to live in a world without Spider-man.”

Jefferson laughed softly and looked back once they stopped at a red light. “This isn’t the first time he’s gone missing, Miles. He’ll be back.”

Miles bit his lip. His dad didn’t know. He hadn’t told anyone about what happened. “What advice would you give him…?”

“I don’t know… maybe he could work a bit more closely with the police,” he said with a shrug. “A lot of the crooks he ends up webbing and dropping off go free since they are brought in against their rights as citizens. Charges get dropped. Yes, he’s helping, but he could be doing a better job of helping if he’d just work closer with us.”

Miles made a mental note of that. He didn’t want to be a better Spider-man, but he wanted to do the best that he could. The car stopped in front of a house. There was nothing special about the outside of it. He checked the address on his phone. “Is this it?” Jeff asked.

Miles nodded. “Yes.” He got out of the car and his dad rolled down his window. “Give me twenty minutes,” he said. His father seemed reluctant to let him out of his sight. This had been going on for a few days. Both Jeff and Rio were reluctant to let Miles leave the house without any supervision. Miles smiled. “I love you, dad.”

Jeff smiled back at him. “Love you, too, kiddo.” Miles stepped back as the car drove off. He sighed and walked towards the house. Each step felt like his legs were made of lead; and they got heavier the closer he got to the door. How was he to do this? He didn’t know these people? He had no proof of what he was about to tell them. He paused at the door was his finger hovering over the doorbell. _They deserve closure…_ he reasoned as he pressed down on the button.

The door opened and an elderly woman stood in the doorway. “May Parker?” She gasped softly and reached for something behind the door. A bat, maybe. She probably had ways to protect herself if something happened. “You don’t know me… But my name is Miles Morales and…” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “I knew your nephew.” Tears fell from his eyes and he looked to see that hers were watering as the realization began to hit her. “I’m sorry… I am so sorry…”

May brought her hands to her mouth and her knees began to shake. “Wh-what… happened?”

“He was protecting me… you… this city… I…” He looked at the ground, kicking a rock near his foot carefully. “I couldn’t do anything. I wanted to… but I couldn’t…”

May’s knees went week and she dropped to the ground, hugging her chest. Miles didn’t know what to do, so he hung back until she managed to get to her feet and stumbled inside, motioning Miles to follow her. He complied. She pulled out a chair for him before getting on the phone and calling MJ to her house. Once that was finished, she sat down on the other side of the table, wiping the tears from her eyes that were quickly replaced with more. “Tell me… Everything…”

_Earth 616_

Otto looked at the schematics that he had drawn up from memory. Tampering with the multiverse didn’t seem like it would be the best idea, but there was so much to learn about this world and the infinite number of worlds that were out there. No one who had any interest in science could justify not looking into the vastness of the multiverse.

The problem was the same one that they had run into in their first jump. The idea that they didn’t belong in the multiverse was something that he would have to figure out how to bypass. As much as he hated to admit it, having Peni here, or even Olivia, would have been nice. Both of them were incredible intelligent and it was better to have more intellects in a room working on this.

He took the tablet and hurled it at the wall in frustration. Peter should have had to die for the rest of them. His plan _would_ have worked! He had accounted for everything… _except_ Peter stepping up and taking the fall. “Humans… we are so unpredictable… and that’s the frustrating part,” he said to no one. Or, so he thought.

“You haven’t left this lab in days…”

He turned and smiled as a small woman stepped inside with a container of food and a thermos. “It’s good to see you, Anna Maria,” he said with a genuine smile.

She didn’t return that smile. Instead, she studied him with a concerned look. “First, you disappear for days at a time, and now you’ve locked yourself in your lab. Have you been eating?”

He motioned to the discarded containers of cup noodles. “I have been.”

She scoffed. “I don’t count that as eating. I count that as slowly killing yourself!” she snapped. He tried to brush off her concern. “What’s wrong?”

How could he explain it to her? She didn’t even know that he was Spider-man… Heck, she didn’t even know that he _wasn’t_ Peter Parker. And now he was supposed to explain the concept of a multiverse to her? This wouldn’t end well. He couldn’t explain where he had been. He had missed a few classes; which didn’t matter, but he still hated it. “I just… lost someone,” he said truthfully. He hadn’t been close to Peter B. Parker, but there was something about that man that made his death and sacrifice exceptionally hard to swallow.

She put down the food and walked towards him slowly; like she was approaching a scared animal. “Pete… I didn’t know…”

“He was just a co-worker,” Otto tried to reason. Surely he shouldn’t be bothering her with stories of a man who died for no good reason. Otto had everything handled. Peter killed himself. “He died saving everyone in the room… a real hero.”

She rested her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, Peter…”

“It’s alright.” It wasn’t. There wasn’t a good reason that good people had to die so the bad people could live. _Oh, look who’s the biggest hypocrite in the room,_ he berated silently. _Your Peter, a good man, died so you, a bad man, could live._ He hated that he was right. “I just… didn’t want to see him go like that, is all…”

She was silent for a moment and he grabbed the food that she had brought, nibbling on it. She was an excellent cook; a perfect cook, in fact. While he ate, she walked around his lab until she came to his notes. He moved to stop her snooping but decided against it. “You’re researching the multiverse theory?”

He took a bite. “Yes,” he said bluntly.

“Why?”

“Because if there was any mercy in this world, then there is a timeline where my co-worker survives to die of old age.”

Anna Maria shook her head. “His death has really shaken you… hasn’t it?”

He shrugged. “Maybe.” There wasn’t much he could tell her about it that would make sense. Most people didn’t believe that they could ever prove the existence of alters. “But the problem…”

“—is that if we were to travel to other worlds, we wouldn’t be allowed to stay there,” she finished, reading over his notes. That hadn’t been spelled out in what she was reading.

“Impressive.”

“If you could somehow prove that these alters exist, you’d be looking to travel to another world?”

He nodded, taking another bite. “I think it would be incredible to make an autonomous jump to another world; don’t you? Imagine a world where anything that can happen, _will_ happen. Could you even begin to fathom the possibilities? The things we would learn from that?”

She laughed softly. “You sound so excited. It’s cute.”

He turned away from her and took a few more bites. It was annoying that she could see right through him… but it was also endearing. Perhaps he could take a lesson from Peter B. Parker… He had taken his grand old time getting back with MJ, and he had waited until it was far too late.

Just as he stood to go to her and invite her to head out with him, something on his computer _pinged._ He put down the food and hurried over to it. “What…?” he gasped, typing rapidly. “No… it can’t be…!” He took a step back from the computer, shaking his head. The computer was flashing “simulation success” on the screen.

“Peter? What is it?”

“It works…” he breathed, and then he laughed, picking her up in celebration. “It works!”

_Meanwhile… Somewhere in the Multiverse_

Flying cars…? Peter wasn’t sure he was entirely sure _what_ he was looking at… or even how. He hadn’t expected to ever open his eyes again. He was supposed to die… and for a while, it seemed like he had. He had a vague memory of floating through… something. A web, it seemed like. Someone had talked to him, but he didn’t remember what she had said, and he had no way of knowing how long it had been, but somehow, he had woken up.

Peter rubbed the back of his neck and looked around at the ground zero he had landed in. The crater was massive. Oddly enough, however, he didn’t feel like he had fallen hard enough to leave such a hole. “What the hell is going on…?” he whispered. Maybe he had been knocked out so long, he was now in the future. It was a stupid idea, but that didn’t stop his brain from thinking it up. Before he had a chance to get up, his stomach lurched and he leaned over to his side to expel the contents. Apparently his body didn’t like being atomized and then reassembled. He couldn’t say he blamed it. His mind wasn’t having a good time, either.

He stood slowly in the center of the hole he had made. Moments later, he heard the sound of sirens in the distance. The police coming to figure out what was going on. They needed to get in line. He needed to figure it out as well; but the authorities were the best place to start, he supposed.

He looked up as a group of police vehicles surrounded him. A spotlight fell on him. “Masked man! You are under arrest!”

“Excuse me?” Peter shouted. “Look, I’m just as confused as you are! If you could—” He shouted as the police started firing. “What the actual hell?” he shouted, but the bullets didn’t stop. He spun and ran, shooting a web to get into the air. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean much when against flying cars. “I’m not your enemy!”

They didn’t seem to care. What kind of world was this? He hadn’t been giving them any trouble and had been more than willing to turn himself in if that was what they had wanted. What was their problem?! The chase was a mess. He had no idea where he was going. If this _was_ the future, New York looked nothing like the one he had left behind. Everything was too high and he had to work to get to the top of the buildings. Was this needed? He had no idea, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He wanted to go home and get away from this mad house!

Home… The thought hadn’t occurred to him that he could even _go_ home. He was supposed to be dead. He wasn’t supposed to survive that. He was supposed to be reduced to nothing but atoms. Instead, he was being chased by trigger-happy police officers who seemed very annoyed that he was a masked man swinging through their city. That was fine… Perfectly fine… Except it wasn’t. If the beam wasn’t the death of him, then these policemen seemed more than willing to take that spot.

“Give me a break!” he shouted to no one. Maybe to that woman who had spoken to his scattered atoms. Maybe _she_ knew where he was and what was going on, because he sure as hell didn’t. “You wanna do some explaining?” he pleaded to the air. The Web.

As if in answer to his pleas, something, or some _one_ , flew past him in a blur. Whatever that thing was, it started taking out the police cars systematically. Peter landed on the nearest roof to watch the newcomer (or, was _he_ the newcomer?) work? Whoever it was, they were very efficient in taking out the cars. Peter’s only hope was that they were unmanned, because this person didn’t seem to care if the cars blew up in that attack. Eventually, the remaining car sped away and the fighter landed on the edge of the building. “Yeah? You better run!”

 _Male, then…_ Peter thought. The dark blue suit was accented with red highlights that resembled spider legs.

“I found the anomaly,” he said to someone on the other end of some sort of communication device. “Yeah, not really an _it…_ The anomaly seems to be a guy.” The blue-suited figure turned around and studied Peter for a moment, listening to the other end. “How am I supposed to know?” he asked, annoyed. He took a step forward. Peter took a step back. He wasn’t sure how hostile or friendly this guy was. “I think he’s a male, but I’m not 100% sure. He’s cosplaying like Spider-man circa early 2000’s.” Peter took another step back. “Don’t run, pal. I don’t want to deal with that.” He paused. “Yeah, yeah… I’ll call you back once I deal with this clown.” He hung up and Peter prepared to run.

They studied each other for a moment. Peter was ready to get out of there, but this guy seemed to know the city a lot better than Peter did. There was no place he could run where this blue-suited man couldn’t find him. He took another step back. At least he could prepare to fight if needed. This strange new world was something that he didn’t understand; but he wanted to understand it. He was still alive, and that meant there was a way for him to get back home. There _had_ to be. If not, why had the Web saved him?

“Alright, buddy…” the blue-suited man said, crossing his arms. “Who the shock are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it was only fitting to end on a 2099 "end credits scene." 
> 
> Anyway... I'm not sure what to do about this. This was kind of the end of the story. Like, a sequel was never planned. We'll see what the demand is. I was considering working on an MCU fic next. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'm not putting this down as finished just yet. Give me a few days to figure it out!
> 
> Update:: Just letting y'all new readers know... this story goes off the rails from here on out. This concludes the Spiderverse rewrite portion of the evening. If you aren't into time travel stories Avenger Endgame style, I don't suggest reading on. Just pretend that Peter finds peace in 2099,.settles down and retires. 
> 
> Anyone else, enjoy the craziness.


	15. Smack to the Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration has hit! Hahaha! Forgive my portrayal of Miguel if it's not comic accurate. I'm basing him off of the Shattered Dimensions game.

 

> Chapter Fifteen: Smack to the Future

“What year is it again?” Peter asked, running his hands through his hair. His mask wasn’t needed; not here. This… this couldn’t be happening! How could any of this be happening? He should be dead! Not on some roof in some weird future dimension with a Spider-man who clearly didn’t respect the title with that suit.

“2099,” the blue suited man said. Peter buried his head in his hands, breathing deeply. How could this have happened? Where was he? He shook his head. He hadn’t traveled in time. That’s not what happened. What happened was that he had been atomized and then brought into another reality that was in the future. He laughed softly. When that was the more plausible reality, he knew that his life had gone to hell in a handbasket. The laughter didn’t stop for several minutes. “Hey, buddy… you okay? You’re looking a bit green around the gills.”

“No, I’m not!” he snapped, looking up at the man. “Time travel does that to you!” His tone was biting, and the man scoffed, turning away. He hadn’t meant to offend him. Peter looked down at his hands. They just had to build another portal. They had built it in 2019. They probably sold dimension hopping tech in the supermarket in the future.

The man poked him, and Peter flinched. “Are you… actually Spider-man? Like, _the_ Spider-man? The original?”

Peter looked at him. That wasn’t something he could answer. A few weeks ago, he would have said yes. A few weeks ago, he was the _only_ Spider-man. Now he was just one in an infinite number of Spider-men and -women. “I… don’t know how to answer that,” he grumbled truthfully. This guy was probably oblivious to their place in an infinite multiverse.

The man started pacing, shaking his head. “There _was_ a Spider-man. He disappeared.”

Peter looked up sharply. “What? When?”

He shrugged. “2019. There was an explosion at Oscorp, and Spider-man was gone.”

An explosion? His eyes went wide. _The_ explosion… the one that had atomized him. Suddenly his chest went tight, and he couldn’t breathe. This… this _was_ his world. He put his hands over his heart. His vision began to swim at the realization. No… it wasn’t just the realization. This wasn’t just a panic attack. He couldn’t breathe no matter what he did.

“H-hey…! Are you okay? Are you having, like, a heart attack?”

 _Probably…_ Peter thought vaguely. His mind was fading. He couldn’t voice it. Everything swam. He couldn’t breathe. The ground hit him hard as his swimming vision failed him.

 

Miguel looked at the red-suited Spider-man as he placed him on the couch. He ran his hands over his head and turned to the young man typing at a computer. “And you say he’s the anomaly?” Gabe asked. Miguel nodded. “Is he alright?”

He didn’t know how to answer that. He didn’t know if this man was alright. Clearly, he wasn’t. “He had a bad reaction to finding out that Spider-man is dead.”

Gabe looked him over. “He just passed out?” Miguel nodded. “Do… do you think he really is Spider-man?”

He crossed his arms, studying to man before them. He seemed that his sleep was absolutely restless. He twitched and shifted in his unconsciousness. “That man died eighty years ago.”

“He _disappeared_ eighty years ago. There was no body. Some guy shows up wearing the traditional red and blue, sends our instruments off the charts, and you don’t think he’s somehow time traveled here?”

Miguel bit his lip and pulled off his mask. He was a scientist. The only time the impossible was the answer was when they had exhausted the possible. They hadn’t exhausted all options yet. The bigger problem now was what they were supposed to do with the red suit. “So, what do we do with him?” he grumbled. “Do you think he has a time stamp or something?”

“Does this _look_ like a robot?”

Miguel shook his head slowly and sat down on the floor with his back to the couch. He had to think about what they had to do now. The Public Eye would take their Spider-man the moment they knew he had powers. They already knew that there was a freak running around; a new one. “We could turn him over,” he muttered. He and Gabe weren’t equipped to handle a time traveler; or a crazy man who might believe he was a time traveler.

“You want to turn him into the Public Eye? Let Alchemex study him and eventually kill him? We need to help him, Miguel.”

He rolled his head back to look at their house guest. “I don’t know if we can help him. He needs a doctor. Or something beyond our expertise. You want to be the one to explain to him that he’s stuck here? Or that he’s not a time traveler?”

“We have no proof that he’s not,” Gabe pointed out. Miguel rolled his eyes with an annoyed sigh. He shouldn’t have to prove that someone was a man displaced from time. Gabe should be the one who had to prove his hypothesis. “When the possible is exhausted…”

“The possible hasn’t been exhausted,” he argued. “We haven’t ruled out psychosis… or drugs. Those are far more plausible than time travel. Tell me one thing that would make time travel make sense.”

“ _You_ should be dead,” Gabe pointed out.

Miguel sighed. His brother was right, and he hated that he had to admit that. They couldn’t turn this man over to Alchemex, or the hospital. It wouldn’t be right. He still didn’t want to believe that this man was _the_ Spider-man, but he needed to have a conversation with him before dismissing the idea entirely. When he had entered the city, he had set off their sensors. He was an anomaly; one they hadn’t prepared themselves for. And now… now they had to deal with him.

It took several hours, but well into the night, their guest started waking up. Miguel stood back, standing in the doorway and watching the older man stir and shift on the couch. He took a bite of cereal as he watched. The man sat up and rested his elbows on his knees before cradling his head. “Hungry?” Miguel asked. He walked in and offered the man a cold bowl of soup. “Apparently you haven’t eaten in eighty years.” The man took the offered suit and nodded his thanks. “So… what’s your name?”

“Peter… Parker,” he muttered between sips. It seemed that he didn’t know how hungry he was until he had gotten a taste for food. Now Miguel wished he had prepared him something more than broth. It was probably good for his stomach to have bland food. He made a mental note to ask Gabe to pick up some rice for their guest.

“Miguel O’Hara.” He offered his hand. Peter took it hesitantly. “So… what happened to you? How’d you get here?”

Peter took several minutes to sip at his soup before speaking. Miguel watched him. He didn’t act like he was addicted to drugs. He just acted… sad. “I should be dead,” he said at length. “My life was already going downhill before they showed up.”

He stood up straighter. “Who?”

“The other Spider-men,” he whispered. “They came and ruined whatever chance I had to get my life back together. At first, I thought maybe they would help, but… they had to go home, and someone had to die.” He held his gloved hand up and moved it, studying it. “I watched my body fade away… and I thought I was dead. And then… I woke up here.”

Miguel watched him with a mix of interest and horror. “The experiment was at Oscorp?” he asked. Peter nodded and his blood ran cold. “Christmas, 2019… An explosion took out the Oscorp building. It destroyed the surrounding area. There was a memorial for it… Everyone assumed that was where Spider-man… _you_ died; but there was no body; no proof.” Peter nodded slowly. He went back to something else Peter had said. “Other Spider-men?”

“Apparently we live in a multiverse,” Peter grumbled.

“And how do we know that you aren’t from another one of those dimensions?”

“Because I’m not glitching out...” He looked down at his body. “I’m stable. The only way for me to be stable right now is if I were from this dimension.”

Miguel closed his eyes, shifting the bowl in his hands slowly. “You were fading out?” he asked. “Maybe… you were atomized…”

“And it took eighty years to deatomized?” Peter asked. He said it like Miguel was regarding it; like it was crazy.

Miguel laughed at the absurdity of it all. “It’s amazing that your atoms came together at all,” he said quietly. He then noticed that Peter’s hands were shaking. They started at a tremble, but it escalated until he was spilling the soup. “H-hey…!” Miguel stood. “What’s wrong?” The bowl fell to the ground, followed quickly by Peter as he convulsed on the ground. “Gabriel!” he shouted, kneeling beside Peter. His hands hovered over the seizing man. “Gabe!”

His brother came running in and knelt beside him, grabbing Peter and putting him on his side. The seizure lasted several minutes and rendered Peter unconscious. Miguel fell back to sit on his knees, breathing deeply. He hadn’t noticed that he had started holding his breath. Was that what he meant by glitching? That didn’t look like glitching. That just looked like a regular seizure. He turned to Gabe. “Now what?”

Gabe said nothing for several minutes and when he did speak, his voice was hushed. “We need help…”

 

Otto watched the mice in the cages, nibbling on a cookie that Anna Maria had made for him. He picked up his voice recorder. “Mouse from Earth-42 remains stable,” he said into the device. This was the third batch of mice that he had retrieved from another Earth. So far, none of the mice suffered from the ill effects that he had when he went to Peter B’s world.

A smile spread across his face as he finished the cookie. It had been months, and he had traveled to several different Earths. On the first trip, he brought nothing back. Then he started bringing back inanimate objects. When those didn’t start fading, he started bringing mice from the other dimensions. He had even gotten a pair to breed and his pregnant mouse was perfectly helpful. His smile beamed wider as Anna Maria stepped into his lab. “I take it your multiverse research is going well,” she deduced.

He nodded. “It’s perfect, actually. I’ve completely bypassed the glitching effect that happened during the accidental jumps.” During the months since his return, Otto had told her what had happened, and who his co-worker was. She hadn’t believed him at first, but when he got his machine working, she was forced to accept that he was telling the truth.

“That’s great!”

He could see that she didn’t think it was as great as he did. It wasn’t that she wasn’t fascinated by the science; who wouldn’t be? But she knew that he would embark on a journey to the multiverse to study it and perhaps save his unfortunate coworker. He didn’t want to leave her, but there were things that he had to do; things he had to make right. _What are you doing, Otto?_ He thought as he looked down at her. Peter B. Parker was dead. There was no way he could have survived the beam. He bowed his head and his smile fell from his face. “I could win awards with this technology,” he muttered; but what was the point? Would the world be a better place if the multiverse was common knowledge?

She nodded, agreeing with him. “Then what’s wrong?”

He walked to his computer as it pinged with life. “All the technology in the world won’t bring him back,” he said with a shrug. He didn’t want her to think that he was hung up on the death. People died. He couldn’t save everyone. What bothered him was that Peter wasn’t supposed to die. He sat down on the chair at his desk and sighed, putting his head in his hands. The monitor gave off a soft sound and he looked up at it.

“What is this?” he whispered, staring at the screen. He was getting a reading that didn’t make any sense. He typed furiously at the keyboard until he had narrowed in on the signal. “What the hell…?” He was seeing something that should be impossible. “I’m getting an anomaly,” he said to Anna Maria, pulling her into the conversation. “But… it’s from the future.”

She gave him a weird look. “The future? We’re talking about dimension hopping _and_ time travel?”

He nodded slowly and then stood from the chair. He didn’t know how to time travel. He didn’t even know what that anomaly was… but it had to be something, and that something might be what he was looking for. He stumbled back. The anomaly was coming from Peter B’s dimension. “He’s… he’s alive,” he breathed. Alive, but… in the future. If they just hopped back to his dimension, they wouldn’t go back to when the signal was coming from. He could only move right and left, not forward and back.

But… there was someone in the multiverse who may be able to help him. The mind who had come up with the technology from scratch. He hated that he needed help, but this seemed like it was the only way.

 _Why do you care so much?_ He thought as he turned to the machine he had made. Who cared if Peter was stuck in the future of his own dimension? He was alive and that’s all that mattered. Dimension hopping was one thing. Time travel was something that no one should mess with. He walked to his travel suit and put his hand on it. The white and red suit was ready. “I have to do this,” he said to her. “I have to try.”

“Peter…”

“If I don’t try, then what kind of person would I be? He needs my help.” He could convince himself that he was during this purely for science… but he felt like he owed it to Peter to do everything in his power to bring him home. He had willingly given his life to save them and he was owed their best to save him as well.

She looked up at him with misty eyes. “You… you’ll come back, won’t you?” she asked quietly.

He smiled. “Of course.” He walked to his computer and typed in the coordinates to a different world. He had vowed to leave that world and that kid alone, but the person who had invented this technology was there and he needed to see her. He walked into the bathroom and changed into the travel suit. He looked at himself in the mirror. “For science,” he whispered and then he stepped out. He could bail at any time if he needed to. This wouldn’t be like last time. This wouldn’t end with someone giving up their lives. It couldn’t.

He nodded to her and smiled. “I’ll be right back,” he said and then he stepped into the machine.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in the middle of Time Square. It was well into the night, but this was New York. People turned to him and he waved at them, looking to the sky. It was only a matter of time before this world’s Spider-man came to check out the tear in their reality.

And sure enough, within a few minutes, a young Spider-man landed near him. Otto took a moment to look over the kid. His mostly black suit looked good and the way he moved was a lot more confident. This was no longer the scared child that had taken on Fisk while he was crying. This was someone who had gotten used to his role as a hero.

“Hey, kid,” Otto said.

The young Spider-man stepped towards him and then it hit him as he took a step back. “Otto?” he breathed. “What… what are you doing here?”

Otto smiled. “You remember me.”

“I try to forget what happened,” he said quietly. Apparently being here was bringing a lot of emotions for the kid. Otto hung back, giving him a moment to collect himself. “I was hoping to never see any of you again…”

“That’s a bit harsh,” Otto said, but he couldn’t blame the kid. “Look… I understand that you are trying to move on from what happened in that dimension, but I have found something.”

The kid looked at him and shook his head. “Why are you even here? Won’t you die if you stay here too long?”

Otto shook his head. “No,” he said. He looked around at the people in Time Square. They were garnering attention. It made sense that they would. This wasn’t something that people saw every day. Luckily, he didn’t look like the Peter Parker of this world. “I’ve bypassed the glitching issue.”

“Why?” was all he could say. Otto couldn’t blame him for his confusion. For this kid, that was a chapter in his life that was best left forgotten. He wasn’t going to ask the boy to come along. He had been through enough without having to go through it again.

“I need to speak with Olivia Octavius,” he said. She was the only one in the multiverse who could help him find Peter B. Parker. She had already unlocked the secret of multidimensional travel. Now she could put time travel under her belt as well.

The boy scoffed and shook his head. “Why would you want to speak with her?” His tone was bitter. He probably though that Otto was here to connect with his other dimensional counterpart so that they could do terrible things. The name Octavius came with a lot of baggage.

“Because,” he said quietly. “Peter B. Parker is still alive… and I need her help to bring him home.”


	16. The Edge of Tomorrow

> Chapter Sixteen: The Edge of Tomorrow

Miles had never wanted to see any of these people again. After he had told May Parker about the death of her nephew, she had given him some of Peter’s old things that he would need to take the mantle and then he had left her alone to her own grief. His parents never found out what had happened, and Aaron vanished off the face of the Earth. School had gone back to normal and his life had hit a rhythm that he was slowly getting used to

The following months had been good. He had wanted to forget about that incident. He wanted to forget that his uncle had almost killed him. He wanted to forget about Peter Parker and Peter B. Parker. He didn’t want any of that experience to be real. He wanted to regard it as nothing but a bad dream that he could forget… But while he had run from that experience, it had apparently run full speed ahead towards him.

He closed his eyes as he led Otto through the city. This was the last thing he wanted. “What do you plan on doing when you find her?” he asked quietly.

Otto shrugged, waving his hand dismissively. He didn’t seem to be taking this nearly as serious as he should be. “Ask her how to time travel.”

Miles nodded. Sure… that worked. What was he expecting? A logical answer? None of this was logical. Being Spider-man wasn’t logical, and it was sad that that was the least complicated part of his life. “What about messing with the time stream? Isn’t time travel dangerous?”

“It’s no more dangerous than dimension hopping,” he said with another shrug. Miles shook his head. That didn’t sound right.

“But… the time stream…? Won’t we be messing something up? Time travel can’t come without consequences.”

Otto sighed deeply, shaking his head as if he had prepared to be grilled on these questions. “No.” His tone was quiet and full of controlled annoyance. “Time travel doesn’t work like that. You can’t change the past or mess up a ‘time stream’. Whatever film you got your doctorate in time travel in is wrong. There is no time stream to mess up. There is only forward.”

Miles put the heel of his hand on his forehead, trying to wrap his head around the concept. “How does that even work?”

“When you go back in time and you change something, you simply create an alternate reality. We are simply putting Peter back where he belongs.” Miles didn’t like the tone Otto was using. It was like he was explaining simple addition and subtraction to an adult.

It wasn’t going to be that simple. It was  _never_  that simple; but Otto didn’t seem to care and Miles was trying his hardest not to care, either. Once they made it to Alchemax, he could walk away. Whether or not they brought Peter back to his own time wasn’t his problem. Of course, he wanted Peter to be home, and he wanted to believe that Otto had found him and had the power to bring him home, but he didn’t want to make another trip. One trip through the multiverse was one trip too many. Despite his worries, Miles said nothing else the entire trip. It was morning when they arrived at Alchemax.

Once they got to the campus, Miles, with his head held high, walked in the door without fear and strode to the front desk. Inwardly, his heart was beating faster than he would have liked, but he had to keep up appearances. He put his hand on the desk loud enough to stir the woman sitting behind it. She looked up and her face went pale.

“Spider-man?” the receptionist gasp. She reached for a phone, but Miles held up his hand. She complied to his silent command to keep everything quiet for the time being.

“We’re just here to see Dr. Olivia Octavius.”

The woman was clearly conflicted with the command. She looked between the two suited people, her eyes darting between them. Otto stepped forward, taking control of the situation. “Tell her Otto Octavius is here.” Miles turned and glared at him through his mask. That wasn’t a bomb he wanted to drop. He had walked into enemy territory and he wasn’t sure that Olivia would even give them an audience. Since the traveling event, she hadn’t been an active super villain. Telling her that the event had come to pay its respects probably wouldn’t stir her into action.

The receptionist nodded slowly and picked up the phone. “Dr. Octavius,” she said. “Otto Octavius is here to see you.” She flinched back at the response and then carefully put the phone back on the receiver. “This way, please.” She stood stiffly and the two followed her through the halls. Miles felt the eyes of every person that passed them. He shifted uncomfortably. This was like walking into a den of wolves and he was a rabbit. Otto offered him no comfort. Miles didn’t know why he was expecting Doc Ock to offer him anything close to what Peter had given him, but it still felt extremely awkward and terrifying to be walking through the halls of Alchemax.

When they got to the lab, their guide opened the door and then hurried off, leaving them alone with Doc Ock. Miles stayed back as Otto walked in without fear. Olivia was in the room, working on something. While she typed furiously on a computer, her artificial limbs worked on something behind her. The concentration needed for that was incredible. Otto clearly didn’t care.

“Olivia,” he greeted.

She didn’t look up to offer them her attention. “You shouldn’t have come here, Otto.”

“Maybe.” He stepped further into the lab, leaving Miles in the hallway. “I need your help.”

“You need to get home?”

He held up his wrist, even though she wasn’t looking. “I have my own ride.” He paused and released a long breath. What he was about to ask was crazy and Miles was happy that he was aware of this. “I need you to get me to the future.”

Olivia froze her work. Her hands hovered over the keyboard and her limbs paused what they were doing without even putting down the things they were holding. “You want to go to the future?” She laughed. “That’s an interesting request. Usually time travelers want to go back in time. What’s in the future that you want?”

“Peter Benjamin Parker.”

Olivia finally turned to them. “Benjamin is dead,” she said quietly. Miles took several steps back, deciding it was best to stay out of this.

“He’s not,” Otto insisted. “He’s in the future.”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. Her limbs began working again. “You’re insane. Get out.”

“I want to help him.”

“If he’s alive, then why does it matter  _when_  he’s alive?”

Miles turned to Otto. He was curious to know the answer to that. Why did this man care so much? Last time he checked, the Ottos of the multiverse weren’t good people. Why did he feel that this was the hill he needed to die on?

Otto crossed his arms. “He gave his life for us, and now we have a chance to make that right. If he’s still alive, we can reverse his sacrifice. We can fix what we broke… what  _you_  broke.”

Olivia stared at him for a long moment before shaking her head. “No. I won’t help you travel through time. Dimension hopping was quite enough meddling for one lifetime.”

Otto laughed. It was a bitter, angry sound. “Don’t tell me that you’ve gained a conscience!” he snapped. “This is  _your_  fault and you are going to help me fix what you’ve destroyed!”

She didn’t seem bothered by his accusations. “What you’re asking for isn’t just hopping to another dimension, you want to meddle with the very fabric of time! Interdimensional travel is well within our laws and understanding of science. Time travel  _isn’t._ We are only supposed to go left and right, not forward and back.”

Miles bit back a “I told you so.” That was probably the last thing Otto wanted to hear. He leaned against the wall. This wasn’t something he wanted to get involved in, but… if Peter  _was_  alive… He shook his head. No… They needed to leave this crazy idea on the ground. They couldn’t. They shouldn’t.

Otto didn’t move from his spot. He looked ready to do whatever it took to get the man back. “What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that we are interdimensional beings who are attempting to mess with the fabric of time in another dimension that we don’t belong to. The consequences of that could be catastrophic.”

He scoffed. “Oh, and you didn’t care about the consequences when you were willing to tear an entire dimension asunder?”

She shook her head and turned from him. Otto was visibly annoyed with the conversation, but he didn’t approach her or lose his temper. Instead, he let her speak. “That was when my life was on the line. There’s no reason to get back into that world.” She turned her back to him. “I won’t help you, Otto, and if you knew what was good for you, you would abandon this mission immediately. You are messing with forces you can’t hope to control.”

Otto waved her off with a huff. “Fine. If you won’t help me, I’ll find someone who will.” He started for the door.

One of Olivia’s arms reached out like a viper and grabbed his wrist. “You don’t want to do this, Otto. You’re messing with things you don’t understand, and you don’t know what will happen.” Otto said nothing, so she continued. “Maybe you feel like you owe it to him for saving your life, but you have to understand; if he is alive, then it doesn’t matter  _when_. He will survive in the future.”

Otto still didn’t speak. He broke his wrist from her grip and walked out of the office, leaving Miles alone in the lab. He turned and watched the man go before looking back at Olivia. She was already getting back to work. He felt like he should say something, but before he could, she spoke again. “Get away from this, kid,” she whispered. “I’ve seen men willing to rip apart dimensions to regain something that they lost. It didn’t end well last time, and it won’t end well this time.”

He waited a moment, but she didn’t continue. When it was clear that she had said her peace, he nodded slowly and hurried after Otto. Neither spoke until they were well out of the building and heading back towards the city. “Do you really think you can save him?” Miles asked. He didn’t want any part of this. He had barely survived their last interdimensional adventure, and he didn’t want to do another one.

“I think we would be irresponsible not to try.”

Miles’ shoulders slumped and he stopped walking. Otto continued without him. He probably didn’t even know where he was going. “Now what are you going to do?”

He held his wrist and pressed a few buttons on the watch-like device. “I’m going to Peni Parker’s world.” Miles ran up and grabbed Otto’s arm.

“Are you  _sure_  about this?” Otto couldn’t be sure! Time travel was impossible. Olivia was right. They were attempting to mess with forces that they didn’t, and couldn’t, understand. Otto looked down at him and Miles realized with a jolt that this man didn’t know who he was. This man knew nothing about him.

“I’m sure that we owe it to him to try.”

 _That’s not good enough,_ Miles thought dejectedly. He knew what he had to do, and he hated that he had to do it. Otto looked ready to tear apart the very fabric of reality to get what he wanted… to achieve some goal that he wasn’t qualified for.  _None_  of them were qualified for this! He had to make sure that Otto didn’t cross any lines. He released a long sigh.  _With great power…_

“I’m going with you,” Miles declared. Otto turned sharply to him. “You got another suit?”

 

Orange sunlight shone through the window and the blinds, making the chrome wall of the apartment look almost like the skin of a metal tiger. Peter groaned and rolled over on the couch, kicking the blanket off of him. His muscles were stiff and weak, and his stomach growled greedily. His head felt like someone was trying to push a bullet through his skull, right between his eyes. He had to wonder if this was what a hangover felt like for normal people. He tried to sit up, but the invisible bullet went further into his head and his vision went white.

“You might want to take it slow there, bud.”

Peter groaned and closed his eyes. Already that voice was sounding familiar. O’Hara. “What happened?” His voice was raw, and it hurt to talk.

“You had a Grand Mal Seizure… and several smaller seizures over the past three days.”

Peter opened his eyes as Miguel walked into the room and offered him a cup of some hot liquid. He sat up slowly and accepted the gift. “Three days?”

Miguel nodded and sipped his own drink. Peter cupped the mug in his hands. While he was unconscious, they had removed the gloves and boots to his suit, it seemed. “Gabe wasn’t sure you’d wake up. We came pretty close to taking you to the hospital, but that would require explaining a lot of things that we can’t really explain. We weren’t really equipped to help you, but you made it through the worst of your episodes.”

Peter sipped at the drink. It was some sort of tea. It burned his raw throat. Had he been screaming? The hot liquid hit his empty belly like molten lava. It churned with the new substance. “What else happened? Am I running a fever?”

Miguel nodded slowly. “Fever, vomiting, seizures.” He took another swig of the drink. “We thought you were going to die.”

The vomiting explained the rawness in his throat. “Why is all this happening?”

He shrugged. “I guess these are the side effects of floating around in a deconstructed state for a few decades.”

Peter turned to him and studied his face. He looked almost as bad as Peter felt. There were bags under his eyes and his hair was unkempt; but not from a mask. He was well acquainted with mask hair. This was torn and disheveled hair born of worry. Peter didn’t comment on it. He realized with a smile that he was lucky that these were the people who had found him. They didn’t know that he didn’t deserve their worry. “Where’s your roommate?”

“Gabe?” Miguel smiled. “At work… where I should also be.” An alarm went off from the kitchen and Miguel stood, disappearing where he had come. Peter looked down at the greenish-brown liquid in the cup. It wasn’t the worst tea he had ever had, but it wasn’t something he’d ask for again.

“Probably some futuristic tea that replaces meals,” Peter mused. “I wonder what’s in it?”

“It’s oolong,” Miguel said from the doorway. Peter flinched but took the plate of food that he was being offered. There was a scrambled egg and rice on the plate; unsalted and plain. Any other time, he might have made a comment about the plain food meal, but he knew that this wasn’t the time to do that. His stomach probably needed the calories without the weirdness of whatever future food they had. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got hit by a bus,” Peter answered between bites of food. It only took a few bites before his stomach began to feel tight and he began to feel a little sick. He poked at the remaining food on the plate. He didn’t want to bring it up, but he knew that the elephant in the room would have to be addressed eventually. “Do you think… there’s a way I could go home?”

Miguel didn’t answer for several moments. He finished his own mug of tea before releasing a long sigh. “That’s a loaded question,” he muttered softly. “I can’t tell you to give up on that dream, but… We don’t know what will happen if we tried.”

Peter closed his eyes. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but it was what he had been expecting. Time travel shouldn’t be possible. He technically hadn’t even time traveled. He was no more a time traveler than Captain America had been. “Is this like a dystopian future or something? Was my death really that monumental?”

“No… Well, yes to the first question… kind of.” Peter shook his head slowly. He couldn’t blame this man for being flustered, and he didn’t even know if Miguel was flustered or if his brain just couldn’t keep up. “Anyway… Harry Osborn was killed in the explosion that destroyed the Oscorp building. After his death, the company went on a steady and fast decline. Alchemax rose up to take on the corporate vacuum that Oscorp was leaving in its wake. Eventually, it bought out Oscorp and, well… stuff happened.”

“Stuff? What kind of stuff?”

“Just general stuff.” He ran his hand through his hair. “But the biggest issue now is that if you are stuck here, you’ll eventually be found out. They’re already looking for you, with you web swinging away from them a few days ago.”

“Are you telling me I’m on my own?”

He laughed. but it didn’t sound like he thought any of this was funny. “As much as I’d like to throw you out, you can barely walk, and Gabe would probably kill me if I kicked you to the curb.”

Peter was appreciative of everything that they were doing, but he didn’t know if he felt great about people putting themselves in danger to keep him safe. “I appreciate your hospitality, but…”

“Don’t,” Miguel snapped, holding up his hand. “We’re not going to throw you out of this house. We’ll… we’ll figure something out for you.” He stood. “But for now, you’re a squatter, and I have to go to work. If I miss any more days, then they will come looking.” He started for the door, leaving Peter on the couch. “Don’t open the door for anyone. Gabe will be here to check on you, but he has a key. Get some rest.” He picked up a remote and tossed it to Peter, who caught it. “For the TV.”

Peter studied the device. There were no buttons on the smooth, plastic surface. “On?” he asked, poking the remote. The TV didn’t respond.

Miguel sighed and walked over to him, grabbing the remote from his hands. He removed the covering, revealing the buttons underneath. He slid the cover onto the back and handed it back to Peter. He smiled. “I’ll be seeing you, old man.” He started for the door and paused in the doorframe. “Please… don’t burn the apartment down.”

 


	17. Tomorrow Always Seems so Far

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I don't know when this happened, but this has become a crossover with Edge of Time; which is a flippin' fantastic game, by the way!

> Chapter Seventeen: Tomorrow Always Seems so Far

Miguel scanned his badge and stepped through the security gates. Nothing went off through the security protocols and he grabbed his bag as it came off the conveyer belt. He was terrified of leaving Peter alone at his house, but he knew that it was better for him to be at work so he wouldn’t attract any more attention to himself.

Even as he made his way to the labs, he felt like people were staring at him, even though he knew they weren’t. There was no reason that he would be targeted. He had taken a few days off. That wasn’t too terribly abnormal. As he got to his lab, he removed his sunglasses and looked down at the project he had been working on. He didn’t even know what it was anymore.

“Today’s going to be long… long and boring…” he grumbled.

“O’Hara!”

He flinched, expecting his partner at the door. Instead, a middle-aged man stood in the doorway. He sighed deeply and brushed his lab coat down. “Mr. Sloan,” he greeted. “What brings you to the geneticist lab?”

“Walk with me.”

Miguel sighed. Any other day, he’d be mildly annoyed that his time in the lab was being cut off, but this unexpected distraction was welcomed today. He grabbed a few useful items and followed the man out of the lab and into the hallway. They walked for several minutes before Miguel dared to question what they were doing. They were well out of the genetics department by that point; and out of his expertise. “Not that I don’t enjoy some time away, but… what is this about?”

Sloan stopped in the middle of the catwalk they were on. He turned and looked out at the city through the glass panels lining the walk. “I heard whispers the past few days.”

“Whispers?”  _This isn’t good,_ Miguel thought, but he didn’t show it. No one knew that he was involved. As far as Alchemax was concerned, he was just another employee. “What kind of whispers?”

“Hearsay, mostly.” He put his hands on the railing and leaned forward. Miguel tried to not show his impatience with this conversation. “Rumors of a new Spider-man running around. Or… should I say an  _old_  Spider-man.”

“And you think we had something to do with this new guy?” he asked, keeping his voice smooth. That was the obvious answer. Another Alchemax genetics experiment free and roaming the streets. He had a thousand different ways to cover his tracks with this one. There were no tracks to cover, anyway. They hadn’t created Peter Parker and Sloan couldn’t trace it back to them.

“I thought that at first.” He pushed off the railing and continued down the walkway. Miguel rolled his eyes once he was certain the man couldn’t see him before following him. Why did he feel the need to drag this out this long. He could have ended this conversation in five minutes.  _Hey, Miguel, there’s a new Spider-man running around. You know anything about that?_

_Nope._

Short, sweet and to the point.

The door at the end of the hall opened as they neared it, and they stepped into a large but sparsely decorated office. There was hardly anything in the room except a simplistically designed desk and a large screen on the wall to the left. The entire exterior wall was a crystal-clear window. The sunlight beaming in hurt his eyes, but he didn’t reach for his glasses. The best thing to do would to not draw attention to himself, even if he could prove he had a medical reason for it.

“We first became aware of the anomaly six hours before it appeared.”

Miguel bit back a retort that the  _it_  had a name. It wouldn’t do to let Sloan know he had stakes in this. “Is that so?” he tried to sound as disinterested as possible, but not as annoyed as he actually was. He didn’t need the details. He just needed to know if he needed to send Gabe a “get Peter the hell out of dodge” alert.

Sloan nodded. “Joseph. Play file number 2438, please.”

“ _Certainly,”_ a mechanical male voice said in a polite tone. The window became tinted and the screen came to life, showing the roof of the building that he had come to for investigation. For a few minutes, nothing happened. Miguel shifted his weight from foot to foot in anticipation. As much as he didn’t want to be here, because if Sloan had signaled him out, it meant he knew more than he was letting on, he was still curious about how Peter came into their world.

After those initial few seconds, the air itself began to distort. Flashing particles began to appear like fireflies. They floated for a moment and then started being attracted to each other. The process was slow… until it wasn’t. Once the particles got about this size of rats, they all came together. Whatever they were creating vanished and then something opened up. It looked like a jagged wound in the air. Then there was an explosion; but it wasn’t like a normal explosion. It looked like everything was falling in on itself. The immediate area distorted before repairing itself. When the distortion cleared up, Peter was lying in the center of the oddest-looking crater he had ever seem. He remembered it when he had gone to investigate. It was jagged, as if the debris was falling towards the epicenter instead of away from it.

“Thank you, Joseph.” The screen flickered off. Miguel crossed his arms. “What do you make of it?”

“I think it’s outside my area of expertise. If I were you, I’d try to find someone on quantum physics, not a geneticist.” He wanted to be as far away from this as possible. The best thing here was to not give anything away. No theories, no suggestions. Playing dumb was the best way to get out of this.

Sloan nodded. “I understand, but I would think you would have a special interest in this case.”

 _He can’t know,_  he thought.  _There’s no way that he knows._

“Since this is a Spider-man, I would imagine that a geneticist would want to study him.”

He shrugged. “I suppose,” he said, trying to stay uninterested.

Sloan eyed him and then shrugged. “Don’t you think it’s interesting that time is the only force that science can’t seem to control? We haven’t quite found a way to control the flow of time.”

“Some things aren’t meant to be controlled,” Miguel argued.

He motioned to the monitor as if there was something on it. “But this Spider-man… He is a man displaced from time.”

Miguel scoffed. He didn’t mean to, but it was absurd. “Even if he  _is_  displaced, he’s no more displaced that Captain America was in that ice.”

“Did Captain America cause a temporal rift when he reappeared in New York?”

“He caused something,” he grumbled.

Sloan either didn’t hear it or he ignored it. “That Spider-man is the key to controlling the time stream!”

“And I don’t work in the Back to the Future Department,” Miguel snapped back. He couldn’t hold it in anymore. There was no reason for him to be here. That flimsy excuse about him being interested because they were dealing with a genetic problem that wasn’t even genetic, since Peter’s powers were radiation based, wasn’t holding up anymore. The reason he was here was because Sloan thought he knew more than he was letting on. “Good day, Mr. Sloan. I hope you find your Spider-man. Get help on floor ’85.”

“O’Hara, you aren’t dismissed.”

“Yes, I am. I have no part in this. Even if you  _could_  find some way to tether this future to the past, that Spider-man isn’t the key to anything.”

“If?”

Miguel stopped with his hand hovering over the panel to open the door. If…  _If._ “You didn’t,” he hissed. If he had, then now he was involved. Well, Miguel O’Hara wasn’t… But Spider-man 2099 was. Sloan walked past him, and the door opened up. He motioned Miguel to follow and he complied with a growing sense of annoyance, anticipation and dread. “Where are we going?”

“Floor ’85,” Sloan threw his snark right back at him. Now he had to follow. There was no way he had  _built_  something.

 _Time, you are a cruel mistress…_ he thought dejectedly.  _This wasn’t how I wanted to spend my week. I wanted to take some time hitting people, stopping crime, taking down the man… And now I’m dealing with an invalid who can barely walk and one of my coworkers is considering opening a gateway to the past?_

They got into the elevator and he leaned against the wall, looking up at the mirrors above him. At least he’d know where to go to sabotage this. His communicator buzzed in his pocket and he reached in it.

 _< Our guest is doing fine. He’s sleeping.> _Gabe informed him.

 _< Good.> _Miguel looked to Sloan. He didn’t seem concerned that he was responding.  _< Can you stay with him?>_

_< Did something come up?>_

Miguel looked back to Sloan.  _< I’m not sure,> _he wrote back,  _< but I don’t like the looks of things.>_

_< Sure. I’ll stay here.>_

“Something wrong?” Sloan asked as Miguel put the device back in his pocket.

“Not really. Just checking up on something.” He leaned against the wall just as the elevator  _dinged._ “66th floor. Very nice,” Miguel muttered. They stepped into a large room with something that looked like a stargate sitting in the center. He whistled. “Congratulations. You built an expensive art piece,” he said, crossing his arms. “Does it work?”

“Not yet… but that’s where you come in, O’Hara… How long did you think you could hide your little house guest?”

 

Otto handed Miles one of the suits. After he had brought the kid to his world, he had spilled the beans about his name and everything about him. Otto had been surprised about some of it, but most of it was pretty standard for superheroes. He watched the kid go into the bathroom, leaving him alone with Anna Maria. “Are you sure about this?” she asked after Miles was well out of earshot.

Otto sighed and looked at the mice scurrying around in the cage. His first ever mouse was sitting alone in its own cage. It was happy, healthy and perfect. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?” he asked. “I can’t tell you if I’m completely sure. No one can be sure about something like this… But I owe it to him to try.” He knew what he was going to do was crazy, but if no one was willing to do the crazy things, then nothing would ever get done.

She looked up at him with worry and fear in her eyes. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay. He wouldn’t _let_ anything bad happen… but he couldn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t happen regardless. “It won’t be long for you,” he assured her. “It’ll only be a minute or two. You will hardly even know I was gone.” He offered her a strained smile. Oh, how he longed for the days before Peter had endowed him with a conscience and a heart that bled a river. Before then, he would be doing this in the pure pursuit of science, and nothing more. Now he was doing it to save someone who probably didn’t even need to be saved. Someone he would have been happy to kill not long ago. “I swear.”

She looked up at him and it pained him to see the hurt and confusion on her face. He didn’t know if she didn’t want him to do this because he could do irreparable damage to another dimension, or because he could get himself killed in the process. “Peter… Promise me you won’t do something you’ll regret.”

He bent down and kissed her gently on the top of the head. She stepped back from him, but not in an angry way. That didn’t matter. He knew he should take a lesson from Peter B’s book. He should settle down. With the way he ran the Spider-man operation, he could have a life and be a superhero. He didn’t have to let it ruin his life. _What was that saying he would always say?_ He had the responsibility to do it… now he just needed the power. “The only thing I’d regret is not doing this.”

She went to speak again but stopped when Miles returned in the white and red suit. He looked uncomfortable. Otto couldn’t blame him. The travel suits were bulkier than their normal Spider-man suits. “Where are we going?” he asked

“Peni’s world.”

“Isn’t  _that_  in the future?”

Otto sighed. He didn’t feel like explaining this again. “It’s in another dimension that is further along in the time than we are,” he explained, trying not to sound like he was explaining it to a small child. “Peter’s world is on our place in the timeline and he’s in the future of that timeline.”

Miles frowned. Otto could tell that he didn’t get it, but the poor kid didn’t question anything further. “Right… Let’s go, then.” He turned to Anna Maria. “It was nice meeting you ma’am.” She smiled and turned around, picking up a bag.

She offered it to Miles. “Cookies.”

He took it. “Thank you.”

Otto smiled at her. Of course, she would be sending them with something sweet. He was lucky. Not many people got the chances he got, even after all the bad karma he had built up as his time as an evil mastermind. Before his trip, he wouldn’t even think to believe in Karma. Now he was willing to accept a few things. He turned to Miles. “Type in the number 1-4-5-1-2 into your Omniverse Temporal Mechanism.”

“My… what?”

Otto sighed. He didn’t know if the kid was messing with him or not. He really hoped he was. “Your dimension hopping wristwatch.” Miles smirked and did as he was told. Otto turned to Anna Maria. “See you in a minute,” he said with a smile; and then he pressed the button.

In a blink, they were standing in the center of a city of lights and color. Otto shielded his eyes as the neon lights shone and painted the streets of the world. “What a strange place this is,” Otto grumbled. He turned to Miles but paused when he noticed the boy eating one of the cookies while he stared out at the world they had just stepped into. He smiled despite everything that was at stake. Traveling was almost second nature to him now. He had been to so many different worlds that it had lost its luster. He had purposely avoided the worlds where the others originated… even though he had been curious to see how Gwen Stacy was doing.

“These are amazing, by the way,” Miles said as he finished the sweet.

“She is,” he grumbled. “Come on. It won’t take long for Peni to find us if she patrols, but we don’t know what kind of future police will come looking for us if we stick around here too long.” The people who had paused to see what was going on had already lost interest. Otto followed the flow of traffic, keeping Miles as close as he could. No one paid them much mind. Their travel suits didn’t stand out much in the future, it seemed.

The “shouldn’t take long,” ended up taking well into the morning. Otto sat in an alleyway with Miles curled up like a kitten beside him. He didn’t know when the kid had fallen asleep, but it was good that he didn’t snore nearly as loudly as Otto thought he would. He reached into the bag of cookies and pulled out another. They had agreed to save Peni some, but they had also thought she would have found them long before sunrise.

The mechanical whirring signaled her arrival. “Otto…? Miles?”

He stood, nudging Miles as he did. “Good morning, Peni,” he said with a slight bow.

Miles stood beside him with a glazed look in his eyes, not fully awake. “Yo… We uh… brought cookies.” He offered her the bag, fumbling a little with the presentation. There was only two left in there, but Otto felt it was enough.

She looked between them. “Come with me,” she said after a moment, taking the offered bag.

She led them through the city to what he figured was her apartment. Either the future had some slacking child laws, or whoever she lived with wasn’t home. Her robot stood by the door once they were all inside. She kicked off her shoes in the small stone-floored section near the door. Otto did the same, but Miles stepped forward. Otto grabbed his shoulder before he placed his foot down on the hardwood floor. “Remove your shoes,” he whispered. Miles did as he was told. They stepped into the tatami room and sat down on the offered cushions. Once they had settled and been served tea, Peni finally asked the question that he was sure she had been waiting to ask.

“What are you two doing here?”

Otto sipped at the green tea. It was good. “I require your help.”

“I figured that,” she grumbled and then muttered something in Japanese under her breath. “What do you need my help with?”

“Time travel,” Miles said. Otto turned to him sharply. He had been hoping to break it to her easily.

“Excuse me?”

Otto sighed. “I believe that Peter B. Parker has somehow survived the explosion that sent you all home,” he explained. “However, his reading seems to be coming from 80 years in the future of his universe. We simply wish to find him and bring him back to the present. That’s all.”

Peni reached into the bag of cookies and took one out, biting it carefully, as if she thought it might be poisoned. Her eyes went wide. “This… is incredible!”

“Yes, yes, Anna Maria is a fantastic cook… can we please focus?” Otto asked, but he smiled, nonetheless. She would be pleased to know that her cookies were loved throughout the dimensions. “Can you help us?”

Peni nibbled on the cookie as she thought about it. Otto waited as patiently as he felt he could. They weren’t short on time, but if this didn’t work, he didn’t know where else to turn. Her shoulders dropped when she finished the cookie. “So, you want to travel to Peter’s universe and then you want to travel into the future?” He nodded and she released a long breath. “It’s not… impossible. Theoretically, if we can open a portal between the two times, we could pass through unhindered, but…” She trailed off. He knew there would be a “but” involved. “We don’t know the kind of ramifications tethering that future to this past would do. If you could return to the past and change it, you do nothing for the future you left behind. All you do is create a branching timeline.”

“Right,” Otto urged. He knew that.

Peni nodded slowly. “Yeah… but tethering that future to our past could cause damage to that future. If Spider-man disappeared in 2019, then the world would be drastically different than if he didn’t disappear. Instead of creating two timelines, one where Peter didn’t disappear and one where he does, you’d be changing the current future that exists as it does now…” She paused and shook her head. “Or… then…”

“But that’s all theoretical,” he said, growing impatient. There wasn’t a world where Spider-man not disappearing wouldn’t be better than him disappearing. It seemed like a win-win. Quantum Causality is just a theory anyway.”

 _“Time travel_ is a theory. None of this is written in stone.” She stood. “But what I do know is that we almost caused a reality ending event by taking technology from our worlds and ripping a hole in reality. If we do anything, it needs to be from Peter’s world.”

“You’re coming back to Peter’s world with us?” Miles asked.

Peni nodded. “Give me a day to engineer one of those travel suits and then we’ll be on our way.” She smiled at Otto and ate the last cookie in two large bites. “And can we make a side trip to your dimension to get some more of these cookies?”


	18. Bridge the Gap

> Chapter Eighteen: Bridge the Gap

“Peter!” Someone was shaking him awake. He groaned and tried to brush away the hands that grabbed at his shoulder. “Peter, wake up!” He cracked one eye open to see Gabe was the one who was trying to get him up. Worry was plastered on his face like a mask. Peter tried to sit up, but he was still weak from whatever was happening to his body.

Gabe managed to get him into a sitting position. “What’s happening?” he asked.

“Miguel sent an SOS,” he explained, even though that wasn’t much of an explanation. “We need to move.”

Move? He could barely even sit up. How were they expected to move? Gabe grabbed his arm and forced him to stand. Peter’s legs shook with the sudden weight. He could feel his knees buckling, but he managed to stay on his feet with Gabe’s shoulder to lean on. “Where are we going?”

“Right now? We just need to disappear.” He made sure Peter was able to hold himself against a wall before he ran out of the living room. He returned with a long coat and threw it at Peter. “Put that one. We don’t have much time.”

He laughed. He couldn’t stop it. Time… this whole blasted mess was because of time. Gabe didn’t even bother to ask him if he was insane. Either he had resigned himself to knowing that his charge  _was_  insane, or he thought something about this was funny as well. Peter didn’t know either of these two men to guess which one it was. He put on the jacket and fumbled with the buttons. His hands weren’t responding, and the more they shook, the more panicked he became. Gabe ran to him and finished buttoning the jacket.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“We’ll find out,” Peter teased. .

Gabe didn’t seem to find him very amusing. “Is it a requirement for all you Spider-people to have an attitude and sense of humor?”

This time when Peter laughed, he knew that Gabe would have no clue what he thought was so funny. He had met a few Spider-people in his time, and yes… they were all pretty sarcastic and they all told jokes. “I guess it is,” he mused. Gabe rolled his eyes as he ushered Peter towards the door.

The good humor between the two dissipated as a knock on the door resonated in the room. Gabe squeezed his forearm. “Can you walk?” he whispered.

“I can try.” Gabe motioned to an adjacent room. “Don’t do anything stupid,” Peter hissed as Gabe pushed him towards the room. He stumbled, half falling, half walking, towards the room. The moment he was out of sight, he fell against the wall and slid down, holding his shaking arm like a child would hold a teddy bear. The arm was beginning to hurt and he wasn’t sure how bad of a sign that was.

The door opened. “Miss Patel,” Gabe greeted. Peter was impressed. His voice was calm and steady. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Someone thinks that you’re hiding something, Gabriel.”

He laughed. “Well, I don’t have anything to hide.”

“Then you won’t mind if I take a look around, will you?”

Peter clenched his fist. Gabe wouldn’t get himself killed to protect him… would he? Surely, he had better self-preservation. His left arm was killing him.

“I do mind, actually. This isn’t my house,” he argued. “When my brother gets home…”

Brother? He had thought Gabe and Miguel were just roommates. Now he really couldn’t let anything bad happen to the young man. Peter winced when he heard the sound of flesh slapping flesh. He hoped that was Gabe slapping the interloper, but he didn’t hold his breath on that.

“I will search the apartment now,” Patel snapped.

“ _No,_  you won’t!”

“Step aside, Gabriel!

Peter closed his eyes. Would it be better if he was found, or if he gave himself up? Either way, Gabe would be caught lying.  _I need to get out of this house._ The only way to protect Gabe was to make sure he wasn’t a liar. He got on his hand and knees, keeping his left arm against his chest, and he crawled towards the window in the room. Behind him, he heard Gabe and Patel arguing, and then he heard rummaging and footsteps as more people walked into the apartment. Time was running out.

He grabbed the windowsill and pulled himself up. His back spasmed, but he managed to stay standing without shouting in pain. He  _hated_  not being able to do anything. With all his strength, the process of getting his atoms scattered and then brought back together had hurt him more than he thought possible. His arm twitched as he pulled himself through the window and onto the fire escape outside. His heart was pounding.

“Not far enough…” Peter whispered. He crawled down the steps, practically falling down the stairs. He got down several floors before he couldn’t move anymore. His heart was pounding. “This is ridiculous,” he groaned. He leaned against the railing, closing his eyes and breathing deeply attempting to lower his heart rate. When they got the chance, he’d have to get that checked out. If he was going to live in this twisted future, he wanted to  _live._

He cracked as eye open when he heard footsteps on the metal of the escape. He looked up as a woman walked down the flights he had managed to run down. She stopped a few steps leading up the escape. “Hello, Peter Parker,” she said with a smile. He offered her a slight grin. “Something wrong with that arm?”

He reached up with his right arm and pulled himself to his feet, gripping the railing tightly. “Who are you?”

“Serena Patel,” she introduced. She offered him a hand. He just looked up at her as if she were crazy. “Let’s go.”

Peter looked up to past her see Gabe standing on the escape a few stories up. He shook his head. Gabe wanted him to fight… or wanted to fight for him. Peter had no idea what was going on. He didn’t even know why these guys wanted him.

“You need medical treatment,” she urged. If he went quietly, they might leave Gabe and Miguel alone.  _But would going quietly put them in more danger trying to save me later?_

As far as he knew, Gabe didn’t have superpowers, and he wasn’t sure how good Miguel was at his job. “I’m not sure I trust you,” Peter said with a shrug. He didn’t know what else to say. Without giving Gabe away, he couldn’t talk to him or ask him what was going on. “If I go quietly, will you promise to leave these people alone?” he motioned to the building. He was trying not to admit that Gabe and Miguel had sheltered him. Above them, Gabe hit the metal balcony with his foot. Peter didn’t know what that meant.

Patel giggled at his suggestion. “You think you have any other option than to go quietly? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

He hated that she was right. His arm was going numb and he was sure his face was paling by the second. He looked over the side of the railing. They were ridiculously high up. Clearly something was going on with the surface of the Earth. Or… something. “You need me alive,” he deduced. If she wanted him dead, there was nothing stopping her from ending his life. “I may not be in any condition to fight you, but I  _can_  fall.”

That got Patel’s attention. She stepped forward, but he got down on his knees. Vaulting over the railing wasn’t an option but rolling under it was. “Not a good sense of self-preservation.”

“I don’t know… I’m pretty good at surviving.”

She laughed. “You won’t survive that fall.”

He pushed himself over the edge just enough to where all he had to do was let go. He stared at her, daring her to try anything funny. He’d do it, and he wouldn’t think twice. He was already supposed to be dead. Why not make it official?

“Fine!” Patel snapped. She turned to the men she had brought. “Take him and move out. Leave the O’Haras and this building alone.” She grabbed Peter’s wrist and squeezed it tightly as she yanked him away from the edge. Gabe vanished from where he was. She threw him at one of the men, who gave him support. “Get him into the car and tell the people at Alchemax that he needs emergency medical treatment before he strokes out.”

“Stroke?”

“The way you’re holding your arm. Your heart is giving you problems,” she said, motioning to him. “We’re saving your life, Peter Parker.” He wasn’t listening. His heart was still pounding, but it was worse now. He could feel the beats that were coming in at odd intervals. His arm tingled and the muscles in his back were straining and spasming. The man who had him worked a little more gently with him as they made their way to the flying car. Maybe… a hospital wouldn’t be so bad.

 

Miguel paced the floor of his lab. He had been released from the meeting once it had been determined that he wouldn’t give up any information. If they couldn’t prove that he knew who the new Spider-man was, then they couldn’t do anything about him. Sloan had no feasible reason to keep him on the 66th floor. This wasn’t going well, and he could only hope it wasn’t going to get any worse.

He jumped with his communicator rung. He reached into his pocket, fumbled with the device before he picked it up. “Gabe?”

“They took Peter!” was the out of breath response.

Miguel closed his eyes and tried to keep in the annoyed groan he felt building in his stomach. “Shock!” He turned and ran his hand through his hair. “Was he okay when they took him?” If they had hurt Peter, Miguel would feel worse about his capture.

“They took him alive,” Gabe assured him. It wasn’t of much assurance. Peter was only useful to Sloan’s plans alive. He hated to think it, but this mess would be better had Peter died in the process. Gabe continued. “He wasn’t in good shape, though. He could barely walk, and he was paler than anyone I had ever seen. He wasn’t going to make it.”

Miguel sighed. He had known that was going to be a problem. He knew that Peter’s health was deteriorating. “I get that,” he grumbled. “Are they getting him medical treatment?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I need my suit,” Miguel muttered. Peter was better off in their custody if they were willing to give him medical treatment. At least Sloan knew his unique conditions and could counteract whatever was happening to his body. _He just needs time to stabilize,_ Miguel thought as he paced the lab. Whatever work he had thought he was getting done today could be left in the dust. There was nothing he could do.

“What are you going to do?”

Miguel sighed. Stopping Sloan was what he needed to focus on. That should be his top priority… but if Sloan succeeded, maybe they could send Peter home, and if that was the case, his health might get better. He could at least get medical help without the danger of being experimented on. “I’m going to get Peter Parker back to his time period,” he whispered.

When night fell, Miguel was in his suit, crawling through the vents towards the 66th floor. Sloan had no reason to keep him any longer overnight, but he knew that the man had wanted to. Sloan knew that Miguel knew more than he was letting on. The man wasn’t an idiot.

When he found what he was looking for, he crouched over the air vent leading down into the medical bay below. Peter was strapped to a bed with several IVs in his arms and machines keeping track of his vitals; but he was still alive, and that was all that mattered. Sloan wouldn’t jeopardize the operation by letting Peter die. He was in good hands for now.

With that in mind, Miguel closed his eyes and crawled away until he made it to another lab. Sloan would connect the past to the present. He needed Peter alive for that. Peter was safe… until he wasn’t. He needed to be finished with everything before Peter was no longer of use to whatever plan this man had up his sleeve.

He jumped into the lab and hurried to the DNA collector. They were running out of time. Sloan already had the machine up, and now that he had Peter, it was running. He grabbed Peter’s DNA samples and ran with it. What he wanted to do was only a theory, and doing it might be a mistake, but the portals were open, so they were on all kinds of new territory.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Gabe asked in his ear.

He looked up at the computer he was typing on. “I shockin’ hope so…”

 

Otto stepped through the portal, keeping his head down. He didn’t know what kind of world they’d be walking into. IT had only been a few months, so there couldn’t be too many differences; but he didn’t want to take any chances. He looked around. They were standing in what looked like a blast zone. He scanned the area. “This is where Oscorp was,” he whispered to Miles as he came up beside him.

“Yep,” Peni confirmed with a nod. “Should we… find Mary Jane?”

Otto sighed deeply. She was the only one who could see them and not ask to many questions; but coming to her would mean bringing up bad memories. Peter was dead to her, and he didn’t want to get her hopes up by telling her why they were there. “She’s our best option,” he decided with a long sigh. He didn’t want to go to her. It would hurt her to see them, but they needed a place to stay to get this together and apparently Oscorp wasn’t an option. “Let’s go.” He fired a web into the air and started swinging. Peni’s robot followed and Miles trailed behind. He had gotten better at web swinging, but he wasn’t as good as Peni and Otto were. He just needed time and he’d learn.

When they landed near the house, Otto went to the door. He didn’t want to put her through this… but there was hope that they could bring him back. He lifted his hand and knocked carefully on the door. It opened and MJ gasped. “P-Peter…?” she whispered.

“Sort of,” Miles grumbled.

“You…” she shook her head and backed away from them. “What are you doing here?” Her shock had turned to anger. “What more could you possibly do? Peter is _dead_ because of you! Your damn machine destroyed Oscorp and killed Harry in its wake!”

Otto blinked. “Harry’s dead?” He shook his head. That didn’t matter. They couldn’t help Harry, but they might could help Peter. “We’re here to make some of it right,” he offered. “Please… we just need a place to stay, MJ. That’s all.”

She crossed her arms and made sure that there wasn’t a way they could get into that house. He was impressed. They could, if they wanted to, kill her without breaking a sweat. Not many people would be comfortable standing in the way of two superpowered people and one kid was a battle robot. Her time with Peter seemed to have given her the strength and stand up to people that could end her without a thought. He smiled. MJ didn’t seem to change much throughout the dimensions. She frowned in response to his grin. “How do you plan on making any of this right?”

“Peter’s alive,” Otto said without preamble. Lately they had been getting better results by just coming out and saying it.

“What?”

“The explosion… we’re not sure what happened, but he’s still alive.”

“He’s just in the future,” Miles said with a shrug. Otto turned to him. That part wasn’t something he wanted to drop just yet.

“We _think_ he’s in the future,” Peni reasoned. “Otto thinks—”

“Wait---” MJ snapped, holding her hand up. She turned to him. “Otto? As in Otto Octavius?”

He sighed. _That_ , also, was something he didn’t want getting out. That name came with too much baggage and too many bad connotations to be thrown around without care. “Yes, yes, I’m really Otto Octavius. I stole the body of Peter Parker in my world and left him to rot in my dying body. He’s dead, but _your_ Peter Parker _isn’t_ dead, and we think we can save him.”

MJ took a moment to just stare at him. He expected her to slam the door in his face, and he wouldn’t blame her for it. The other two hadn’t known the whole details about his body-snatching exploits. He didn’t want them to know. They might lose their trust in him if they did; but now they did know. “How?” was all she asked. He didn’t know if she meant how he had managed to steal Peter’s body, or how he planned on saving her Peter.

Peni saved him from answering. “We need to lock into his DNA, and once we pinpoint when he is, we’ll travel there and bring him home.”

MJ shook her head. Before a few months ago, she probably would have told them they were crazy. Now there were dimension hopping on her front doorstep. Clearly the realm of what she thought was possible had been expanding. “And you need me…?”

“Just a place to stay,” Miles offered.

“It’ll take months of research to even begin this process,” Peni explained. “This has never been done before.”

MJ sighed and shook her head. She looked like she was getting ready to pass out. Otto stepped forward.

But then his head exploded with noise. He stumbled back and grabbed his head, clawing at his hair. What…? What was going on? It sounded like static… like someone was trying to tune a radio in his head. “ _H---o?”_ He shook his head with a groan. What the hell? _“—n you h--- me?”_

“What the--?”

 _“---ter?”_ The voice was coming in clearer now. _“Peter Parker? Can you hear me?”_


	19. Long Distant Relationships

> Chapter Nineteen: Long Distance Relationships

Otto stumbled back as the voice continued speaking.  _“Hello? Parker? Are you there?”_

Parker? Well, whoever this voice belonged to, he wasn’t the Peter from his world that Otto had killed trying to resurface and reclaim his body. There would be a lot more cursing if that was the case. “Who… the hell…?”

“Otto?” Peni asked, stepping towards him. She looked concerned. And why wouldn’t she? He was talking to the air. He held up a hand. Could insanity be a side effect of the body snatching that he had done? Surely not, but he wasn’t ruling that out entirely. It could also be the traveling that was causing this as well. “Are you okay?” He nodded slowly. He wasn’t sure if he was, but it would be best not to worry them. They were in uncharted territory and if the man who had led them down this path was going insane their entire mission would fall apart.

“I’m… going to go for a walk,” he grumbled, waving Peni away. He started down the street without telling the others anything else. How was he supposed to tell them that he was hearing voices? His idea about Peter was already crazy, and he had no proof of him being alive in the future. If they found out that he was suddenly hearing voices, they would abandon this mission before they had a chance to get started.

Once he was well enough away, he stopped walking and looked up at the sky. The voice hadn’t said anything in a while, and he was slowly beginning to convince himself that he had merely made up the voice. He took a deep breath before speaking. “H-hello…?” It felt weird to be speaking into the air like that, but he had no real way of knowing how else to contact the voice.

_ What are you thinking?   _ He thought when no answer came. He was annoyed with himself and the stupid voice he had heard for talking when that was the last thing he needed. What was he expecting to happen? That the voice in his head would just start talking? “You’re losing it…”

_ “You’re not losing it,”   _ the voice said, startling Otto. He flinched back and looked for the source, but again, there was no one there.  _“But we don’t have much time. I can’t really explain all the science behind this, but you need to listen to me.”_

Otto shook his head and waved his hand as if the person who was talking was actually there. “Listen to you? I don’t even know who, or what, the hell you are!”

_ The voice sighed. _ _  “Fine, introductions. My name is Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-man from the year 2099, and your life is about to fall the shock apart!” _

He let out a long sigh. What was going on? How was this even possible?  _Was_  it possible? Maybe there was some villain in this dimension who was able to communicate through thought and he just thought it would be fun. He decided to humor the voice for now. “The year 2099, you say?”

“ _Yes, but when I’m from isn’t important right now.”_ He sounded like he was in a hurry. Otto had a lot of questions about what was going on; the main was how was this even possible? He hadn’t even heard the theory that would cover this. He decided it would be best to let Miguel talk, though. He didn’t seem to be in the mood to talk about the science behind this. _“Sometime in your near future, something is going to happen. There’s going to be an explosion caused by trying to send some people home and you are going to be atomized as a result. I think I can help you build an interdimensional gateway that will work without killing you, but you have to tell me every detail of your situation.”_

Otto blinked in confusion. What? Miguel was talking about the explosion that had sent them home and killed Peter. He sighed. This guy had no idea what was happening, it seemed. So much for help from the future. “It’s the year 2020,” Otto explained. “That terrible event you’re talking about… it already happened months ago.”

_ “Wait… what?”   _ O’Hara gasped.  _“No… no… that can’t be right. I can’t be talking to you because you’re here!”_

“There?” So, Peter  _was_  alive in the future. Frankly, he had been half hoping that he was wrong about the situation. Everything about Time Travel was crazy and this entire mission was crazy… and now it was even crazier. “Peter’s there?”

_ “Yes, and you… he… he’s dying!” _

“Dying?” Otto shook his head and started walking. This was insane.  _He_  was insane. “What’s wrong?”

_ “His body is deteriorating. Right now he has medical treatment, but he needs to get back to his own time.” _

He looked up at the sky. As much as this shouldn’t make any sense, it actually did. Peter’s body was probably having trouble assimilating to the process of being atomized and then being put back together. Getting him back to the past wasn’t going to help him, though. “Why can’t you fix him?”

_ “Because we’re a society that would use him in experiments,”  _ O’Hara explained.  _“The doctors that have him right now will be able to save him, but they won’t bother keeping him that way once they’ve finished with him.”_

Otto rolled his eyes. Of course. “Is this because he died in this time?”

_ “Maybe… I’m not sure.” _

“Helpful…” He didn’t mean to sound irritated, but this was ridiculous. He was listening to a voice in his head that claimed it was from the future. Did neither one of them realize how crazy this sounded? “So…”

_ “I hate to cut you short, but who exactly  _ are _you?”_ O’Hara asked.

“Did Peter tell you about the existence of the Multiverse?” he grumbled. Now wasn’t the time to be diving into that mess. He was more curious about how he was able to talk to someone 79 years in the future. This kind of technology should be impossible.

_ “Yeah.” _

“Well, I’m Peter Parker from another dimension. I came here because I learned that Peter…  _My_  Peter, was still alive just… in the future…” The more he tried to explain it, the crazier it sounded. This whole thing was dependent on suspending disbelief long enough to think that any of this was possible. “Look, just tell us how to build a time machine and we can get this over with.”

O’Hara sighed. _“That might could work. Sloan here has already gotten a time portal on my end up and running. If you piggyback your machine, then maybe you can connect to it.”_

Otto nodded. If that was the case, then this would make it all go a lot smoother. IT would bypass all of the researching they would have to do. Instead of taking months, this would take a matter of weeks. “Perfect.” He started walking again. “Tell me everything.”

_ “Well, there’s not much to tell. Peter’s in bad shape, but some scientist in my time wants to use him to open a portal to the past.”  _

“What for?” 

_ “Shock if I know,”  _ O’Hara grumbled. Otto blinked. What did “shock” mean, and why did this guy say it so much? It was an insignificant detail. _“It doesn’t matter. I need to stop him while you get started on that time portal. Right now, you need to look up Reed Richards and his work on Temporal Rifts.”_ He began rattling off a long list of items that they would need to get to get started on the portal. Otto put the information in his head and stored it, hoping that he could remember everything. He had a good mind, but a lot of the items were things that Otto wasn’t even sure had been invented yet. _“You got all that?”_ O’Hara asked. _“Also, what should I call you? You’re another Peter…”_

“Just call me Parker,” Otto snapped. That was less important than O’Hara’s abuse of the word “shock.” “Where do we start?”

_ “You need to create the program first. I’ll have to sneak into the lab where Sloan is keeping Peter in order to get you the program you need to run this machine. That shouldn’t take too long, though.” _

Otto looked up at the sky as he walked. How was he going to explain this to the others? “Can you talk to the other people on my team? They won’t buy that I have a voice in my head that’s telling me how to build this machine.”

_ “No. The Chronal Link only works because I have Peter’s DNA on file. I don’t have files for the people on your team.”  _

That made sense. It was about the only thing about this that made a lick of sense, and that was starting to worry Otto. He looked up as MJ’s house came into view. Something Miles had said entered his mind. He sighed deeply. It was a stupid question, but they were in uncharted territory. “What about disrupting the time stream?”

O’Hara’s answer came with a dismissive tone. _“You can’t disrupt the time stream. If you make changes in the past, then it will just make another alternating branch of reality. All we’ll be doing is making a timeline where Peter Parker didn’t disappear for 80 years. This timeline will be completely untouched.”_ He paused and then let out a soft grunt as if he were landing somewhere. _“Alright, I’m here. I’ll read you the schematics.”_

“Right… Let me… explain to my team what’s going on.” He braced himself and stepped into the house. Miles was lying on the couch with his feet over the back of the sofa. Peni was talking to him about something while MJ sat on another chair in the living room.

“The Prodigal son returns,” she grumbled, glaring at him. Apparently, she wasn’t over the revelation that he was actually Otto Octavius and he had stolen Peter Parker’s body. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Did they _have_ to judge him by their standards? Wasn’t what he had done some sort of self defense? He was glad that O’Hara couldn’t read his thoughts. Letting him know that he was talking to a murderer probably wouldn’t go over well. He shrugged. Who was he to know? Maybe Spider-man 2099 didn’t have Peter’s sense of heroism to a fault. 

Otto ignored MJ for the time being. He addressed his Spider-team instead. “Alright, so… This might sound crazy…”

“Has _anything_ you’ve said in the past few days not sounded crazy?” Peni asked, looking up from the armrest of the sofa where she was sitting. “What’s crazier than deciding that Peter is still alive in the future because he somehow survived the explosion?”

_ Well, you asked for it…  _ “A man from 2099 is talking to me through a psychic Chronal Link and he’s going to walk us through building a time machine so we can piggyback off a man from his time’s technology and bring Peter home.”

_ “That sounded like it went well.”  _

The silence in the room following his explanation was palpable. Miles could only stare at him, dumbfounded. Peni recovered the quickest. “A Chronal Link based off Peter’s DNA…?” He nodded and she shrugged. “It’s theoretical in my dimension.”

“Well, it’s apparently _not_ theoretical in 2099.”

_ “What year is the person you’re talking to from?”  _

“I don’t know… I didn’t ask,” Otto grumbled. Peni was staring at him like he had gone insane. He wouldn’t deny it if they accused him of it, though. “Either way, we need to discuss how we’re going to do this. He’s going to read me the schematics and you have to program it.” 

Before Peni could berate him further at how insane their mission had gotten, O’Hara gasped and shouted from the other side. “ _Shock!”_ he gasped.

“O’Hara?” His only response was the sounds of groaning and fighting. “O’Hara!” 

Miguel slammed against a wall, pinned by metal limbs. “W-who… are you?” he gasped as another limb wrapped a claw around his head. He struggled against the restraints, but they held fast. He had never seen the woman before. He had studied old Spider-man foes and she looked like one for sure. A third claw came and punched him hard in the stomach. On the other end, Parker was trying to get a hold of him, but he couldn’t focus on the Chronal Link. He coughed. “Doc Ock…?” he managed to gasp. She had wiped the floor with him. Sometimes he wished he had Peter’s ability to sense danger before it screwed him over.

“You can call me that if you want,” she said, studying her gloved hand. “I’d be flattered.”

“I’m sure he would be, too,” Miguel grumbled. “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, after all.” She used the fourth arm to slap him hard across the face. When she slammed into his cheek, she released him, sending him across the room with the impact. He rolled until he came to a violent stop against the wall. She hadn’t touched the terminal. “You wanna tell me what the shock is going on here?”

She laughed softly. “I could… Or I could just _kill_ you.” She aimed another attack at him, but this time she didn’t have the element of surprise. He jumped from the extended limbs, backflipping away as he left an after image for her to aim for. He ran at the octopus-woman and slid under her legs before jumping into the air to kick her in the back. His first kick landed, but before he could get another hit in, one of the limbs grabbed his foot. It then proceeded to thrash him around the room like a rag doll.

He remained limp during the onslaught. It was better to roll with the punches. She slammed him hard enough onto the ground to crack the floor. He stayed still as she lifted him up by one foot, dangling him in front of her. She clicked her tongue. “What a shame. I thought you’d be more difficult to beat. Pity.” She went to discard him, but he fired webbing in her face. She shouted and dropped him. He hit the ground rolling. Despite the pain, he needed to end this and get back to figuring out this time travel stuff so he could stop whatever Sloan planned on doing to Peter and the timeline. 

He spun back to the woman and lunged at her, latching onto her back and using his clawed hands to rip through the arms. Without them, she didn’t seem like much of a threat. “Don’t you know it’s rude to hit women?” she shouted as her limbs grabbed his wrists.

“I’m an equal opportunist,” Miguel snapped. 

The gunshot that echoed throughout the room stopped whatever he was going to say next cold. Miguel opened his mouth but could only cough. The woman discarded him and the crumpled to the ground, holding his hand over the gunshot wound. Blood leaked between his fingers. Sloan walked into the room. “Serena, I asked you to _kill_ him, not play with him.”

She scoffed. “I had it handled.”

“Sure.” He looked down at Miguel. “What a waste. We could have built something here, Spider-man; but you chose to fight us instead.”

“What are you talking about?” 

“If Alchemax was able to thrive long before the untimely demise of Oscorp, the future would be a much better place.”

“For _you,”_ Miguel snapped. 

Sloan shrugged. “I suppose that’s true. Not really for you.” He squatted in front of Miguel. “You could have helped us create a better future; a future where people like you don’t _have_ to exist.”

“That _is_ the future I’m fighting for,” Miguel spat. His vision was beginning to blur. Sloan had shot him well. Not to mention the beating he had just received from Serena. 

“Yes, but you’re thinking too small. The time to change the future isn’t now… it’s in the past. It’s a shame, though. I admired your work to build a better world. Too bad you won’t even get to die with the memories of the life you’ve already led.” 

Miguel reached up and grabbed Sloan’s wrist with his bloodied hand. “Let me give you something to remember me by!” With his other hand, he clawed the man across his face, ripping his cheek open. Serena yanked him away from Sloan, but he didn’t seem rattled by the attack even as blood soaked his neck and white lab coat. Instead, he straightened the coat and turned back towards the room where the time portal had been built. 

Serena looked between the two men. “Do you want me to finish the job?”

“What’s the point?” Sloan asked. His words were slurred from the torn cheek. “In a few minutes, none of this will have happened.” She took one last look at Miguel before following the older man out of the room, leaving him there to bleed out. 

“Parker?” he gasped. 

“ _What the hell happened?”_ Parker snapped. His voice was hushed… probably didn’t want to sound crazy in front of the other spiders. 

“I got to meet the future’s version of Doctor Octavius.”

Parker didn’t answer for a few moments. It gave Miguel enough time to focus on stumbling to his feet. He kept the heel of his hand over the wound and applied pressure. He stumbled forward. _“What was he like?”_

_ “She _ had a bone to pick with me,” Miguel muttered. 

_ “Oddly enough, she’s not the only female version of Doctor Octavius I’ve heard of,”  _ Parker grumbled. _“Are you okay?”_

“Not really,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’ve survived worse, though.” He fired some webbing at the wound to slow down the bleeding. He’d have to call Gabe and check in. His brother was probably beside himself with worry. He stumbled into the portal room just as Sloan powered the device. Somewhere unseen, a scream could be seen. Miguel bit his lip as Sloan walked towards the gateway. 

He ran towards the man as quickly as he could. Before he could fire a web, Serena grabbed his leg and pulled it out from under him. He was getting tired of hitting the ground. He rolled away for Serena, leaving blood on the ground as he did. Sloan seemed uncaring to the battle going on behind him. He walked, unflinching towards his goal. Serena threw Miguel away from the gateway and stood in front of it as Sloan stepped through. 

“No shocking way are you getting away with this!” he shouted and then ran forward. Instead of trying to avoid the woman, he shot his webs on either side of the gateway and slingshotted himself into Serena, propelling both of them into the gateway.

The fumbled with each other until he was able to break away from her, kicking her away from him in the void. Lights flashed… the past that had happened and the past that now _would_ happen. Buildings flickered and changed. Red liquid splattered one of the scenes and a man in a spider outfit fell in a pool of blood. “Peter!” 

The portal rejected him, throwing him from the gateway and back onto the 66th floor. Miguel rolled with the impact and landed on his knees, holding the wound where the webbing had broken. Not much had changed in this room in particular, but he could see the landscape outside. He hurried to the windows covering one of the walls. “Gabe?” he called. There was no answer on his comms. “Parker…?” he asked hesitantly. How would this affect them? “Parker! If you’re there, answer me!” He put his hand on the window. This wasn’t his world anymore and the silence of the room was crushing. “…please…”


	20. The Fire I Began is Burning Me Alive

> Chapter Twenty: The Fire I Began is Burning Me Alive

Otto opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling that he no longer recognized.  _Something_  had happened… Something that didn’t make any sense. There had been a wave of… energy? He didn’t know how to describe it. His mind couldn’t rationalize what had happened. It hadn’t felt like anything, but the world had shifted and morphed like someone working in a photo editing program. And then the shockwave had come. Nothing else seemed to be physically touched by the shockwave, but a quick look at his team proved that they too had been affected. The only one still standing was MJ, who was merely looking down at them in confusion. He closed his eyes and tried to stand, but the disorientation kept him on the ground.

“Peter?”

“No,” he groaned. Apparently, something had happened to the time stream. That wasn’t supposed to be possible. “O’Hara…?” No answer. He managed to struggle to his feet, recovering quicker than the two children he was traveling with. He stepped towards Mary Jane, holding out his hands. “Ma’am…?” How was he supposed to explain this? He didn’t even know what the hell happened. For all he knew, O’Hara had changed as well. It seemed they had been immune from the time swap by being from another dimension. It made as much sense as anything else that was happening right now. “Where’s Peter Parker?”

She took a step from him. “D-dead…” she whispered. “Who are you?”

“It’s… complicated…”

She stepped towards him. “Peter?”

“Not really…” He turned to Miles and Peni. “I need to check on those two. I know you don’t know what’s going on, but please… don’t call the police.” Whatever world they were in now, it seemed that at least Spider-man had existed.  _Maybe…_ he thought as he knelt beside Miles, putting his hand on the kid’s back. He shook him gently. “Hey…?” He didn’t respond and neither did Peni when he turned to her. Neither one of them seemed any worse for wear, though. He turned back to MJ. “We’ll… get out of your hair, then.” Now that she truly had no idea what was happening, he couldn’t impose on her.

She looked at them and passed her eyes over Miles and Peni. “Will they be okay?”

He had no idea. “They should be.” He sighed. “If you could please point us to a hotel… or abandoned building?”

“Do you have any money?” she asked. He shook his head. He had nothing. And now he didn’t even know what kind of world they were working within anymore. She took a step away from Otto and looked down at her hands. He waited for the inevitable. Who was this Mary Jane? She knew Peter Parker, so maybe she was still the kind of woman who would offer her house to three strangers. “Do you… Did you know Peter?”

He nodded slowly. “I did. He was Spider-man… wasn’t he?” Otto couldn’t really explain why he was standing there in a similar Spider-man costume and why he was traveling with another Spider-kid and a young girl with a robot. She nodded without looking at him. So, Spider-man existed in dimensions even when things happened. “How did he die?”

“There was an explosion… We never found a body…”

 _Because he’s not dead,_ Otto thought. He tried to keep all those crazy theories to himself, though. He couldn’t explain any of this to someone who had never been through any of this. To this poor woman, she suddenly had people appear in her living room. The right thing to do would be to deny her offer for her home. She didn’t need this. The other MJ didn’t know what was going on, either, but this Mary Jane had no clue at all about it. At least the other MJ had a chance to see their entire group before he came back with theories of time travel. He sighed. They needed a base of operations. “We don’t want to impose…”

“It’s no imposition.”

He sat down on the couch and buried his head in his hands. They should just go home. This was no longer a simple rescue mission. It had  _never_  been simple, but it also hadn’t been this complicated. Before, it was a matter of building a time portal. Now it seemed that someone had managed to go back in time to change the world. He clenched his fists. That wasn’t possible. Going back in time didn’t change the timeline, it made a new one. That’s not how time travel worked. He released a long breath. “Thank you, MJ.”

He would have to wait for Peni to wake up before he really brainstormed. There was a possibility that O’Hara hadn’t survived his encounter in the future. If that was the case, there was nothing they could do. “Damn it…” They had been so  _close._ All they had to do was get the schematics from O’Hara and then they’d be finished. That was it.

MJ offered him a hot cup of tea and he sat on the couch for God knows how long before Peni and Miles began stirring. He didn’t know why it had taken so long for them to wake up, but it probably had something to do with the fact that his body had gotten used to all this weird traveling stuff; even if time travel wasn’t under his belt. By that point, MJ had gone to the store to pick up some food for them. “Welcome back,” he muttered. The tea had long since gone cold.

“What… happened?” Peni groaned.

Otto shrugged. What had he dragged these children into? “I guess there was a time travel mishap…”

“Or someone got exactly what he wanted,” Miles suggested. Otto shrugged. Now he had to tell Miles that he was right. But the question was…  _how?_

“Quantum Causality…” Peni muttered. Otto lifted an eyebrow at her. Luckily, they didn’t need O’Hara for everything. “It’s a theory that states that if two points in time are connected, then the time stream is as stable as a river…”

“And if you put a dam in a river, it changes the flow,” Miles deduced.

“And if you redirect the river, it overwrites the original flow,” Otto finished. He bit back another curse. “We have a problem.”

“ _You_  have a problem,” Miles said, standing. “I didn’t sign up for this.”

“You signed up for a time travel mission.”

He gestured at the changed house. “This isn’t a rescue mission anymore, Otto. This is something else, and we don’t know what we’re doing. Olivia was right.  _You_  have no idea what you’re dealing with here. You said this was impossible!”

“It was!” Otto snapped, running his hand through his hair. He should let Miles go home. The poor kid didn’t know what he was getting into.

“You want to make Peter’s death mean something! Maybe you feel guilty about what you did, and this is a way to make up for it, but you are going to destroy this dimension if you keep at it, and I won’t have any part of it!”

Otto stared up at Miles, but instead of snapping back, he smiled. He didn’t feel guilty about what he had done to his Peter. He did feel guilty about what had happened to this Peter, though.

“What’s that smile for?” Miles was bristling with anger.

“You’re not that scared kid anymore. You’re standing up for what you believe in.” He pointed to Mile’s watch. “You can go home whenever you want, kid. No one’s stopping you.” He stood and looked up at the ceiling. “You’re right. This  _has_  gotten out of hand… but this isn’t just about saving Peter anymore. If O’Hara didn’t survive in the future, we are the only ones who know something is wrong. It might be our responsibility to reset the world how it was.”

Miles threw his hands up, exasperated. He turned his back to them. “You have a God complex,” he grumbled. “That’s the only way you can explain this behavior. What ever happened to a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man? Since when do we save dimensions and repair time streams?”

“We do what we can to save people,” Otto offered.

“That’s real rich coming from the likes of you.”

Otto sighed. Miles was hurt and overwhelmed. He didn’t blame him. He’d rather they not have that argument, though. Whether or not they believed that he had changed was up to them.

“Does that woman know?” Miles asked suddenly. Otto narrowed his eyes but didn’t answer. Apparently, his silence was all Miles needed. “I thought so.”

“Anna Maria has nothing to do with this,” he reasoned, turning to Peni. “O’Hara gave me a list of things we need to make the time portal.”

“Without the programming schematics, what you’re asking for could take months, even years, of research. And who knows if that research even still exists. This time shift may have made our life more difficult.”

“It probably did…” Otto said. He started for the door. He hadn’t seen the outside since the shift happened. He opened the door to a world that didn’t look  _too_  different. The buildings looked more futuristic and more-chrome like. Technology seemed to have jumped a few decades ahead; but it wasn’t a dystopian society… Yet… He looked up at the sky towards the buildings that touched the clouds. “O’Hara?” he asked hesitantly. “If you’re there… This is going to hell…” He felt ridiculous. It was like he was praying.

He flinched when his hand was grabbed. Peni held on tightly. “We’ll fix this,” she assured him. “And we’ll bring him home.”

He looked behind them back in the house where they had left Miles. He was still there… for now. “I know we will.” He looked down at his hands and clenched his fists. “Whatever it takes…”

 

Miguel had gotten no feedback in the last hour. No one had come to finish him off and Gabe hadn’t called to check on him. He was in the medical bay with Peter in the bed beside him. He had managed to stitch up the gunshot wound and already he was healing from Serena’s beating. “Now what?” he asked the unconscious Peter. The Chronal Link seemed to have been severed, leaving him in the dark about whether or not the group of interdimensional travelers had survived the shift. For all he knew, he was the only person in the entire time stream who knew something was wrong.

“No,” he muttered. “Not the only one. Sloan knows…” But he didn’t know where, or  _when_  Sloan was. He didn’t even know how far back the man had gone. He looked to Peter. He needed to get back to Gabe and he needed to figure out how to fix this. Peter’s vitals seemed to be okay, but he didn’t know how moving him would make it better or worse. He stood. “I need to figure this out,” he said to Peter. “But you’re safe for now. There’s a reason you’re here, and they obviously still need you alive.” He patted Peter’s arm and took a deep breath, walking out of the room. He’d be back. He needed to be back.

And then there was the matter of what he had seen during his trip into the time stream. What was that about? He had seen Peter die. As he swung through the new city, he tried not to let his mind wander. He didn’t know the city anymore. This wasn’t the home he had grown up in. His world hadn’t been the best to begin with, but whatever it had changed to now was a disaster.

The landscape was darker and more oppressive. There weren’t as many cars flying through the air and there weren’t as many people just milling about. He avoided anyone who may look at him. He didn’t know if he existed in this version of his world. The last thing he needed was catching the Public Eye, or whatever it was called now.

He landed on what would have been his apartment building and was dismayed to find that it wasn’t even a residential building anymore. It seemed to a be a transmitting station. “Now what…?” he groaned. He didn’t even know where to begin to look. He felt completely alone in the world… but he couldn’t give up. He hurried into the building and snuck his way through until he came to something that looked like a control room. He shut the door behind him and sat down in front of the computer. “Alright…” This was a longshot, but he had to try something.

After a few minutes of hacking and rewiring, he was transmitting. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath before talking. “Come in…” he said. He was met with nothing but static. “This is…” he looked at the station number. “…radio station 57, do you copy?”

There was a bit of static and then a voice. “Station 57, we copy. Go ahead.”

He closed his eyes. “I need a location on Gabriel O’Hara.” His only hope was that this was actually closer to 1984 than his version of reality had been. He waited with bated breath for an answer. He didn’t want to think about the possibility that Gabe didn’t even exist anymore. Sloan had gone back far enough to completely change the world into this oppressive police state. It wasn’t unreasonable to think that the blood lines that had gotten both him and Gabe hadn’t happened under this regime. He didn’t know what he’d do if he was truly alone.

“10-4, 57,” the response came. He heard the sound of typing before the static came again. “Gabriel O’Hara is being kept at the detention center in the Seventh District.”

Detention center? “What was his crime?”

“Classified, 57.”

“Roger… Over and out.” He hung up before the man on the other end decided to start asking too many questions. Gabe was alive… but that didn’t mean that he was the same person that he had always been. Now… he just needed to figure out what District Seven was. He typed rapidly on the computer until he figured out how to get up a map. The technology was advanced, but not too advanced for him. He needed an AI to get him through this, though. He didn’t have time to sit there and figure out everything. He got where the 7th District one and hurried out of the building.

He began swinging again, pulling up the map he had memorized. He needed to know what was going on. He needed to see the ins and outs of this world because if he didn’t, he’d run into the Public Eye. This was a disaster and he didn’t even know where to begin to fix it.

When he landed on the detention center, he crawled through the vents, keeping as quiet as he could. There were no security measures in the vents, which led him to believe that there wasn’t a spider-themed superhero in this version of the world. He crawled through the vents until he finally recognized someone. “Gabe…” he whispered. He found the nearest vent leading to the hallway and walked towards his brother. He was sleeping on a small cot in the cell with his arm over his forehead. He knocked on the plexiglass wall separating him and his brother. “Gabe…!” he called, a little louder.

Gabe flinched and moved his arm away from his face, rolling over to look at the clear wall. He flinched back and sat up slowly. “Who…?”

Miguel sighed and reached up to his mask. IF he unmasked, then he would be exposed. They probably already knew he was there and were coming to stop him. “Shock it…” he groaned and ripped off the mask.

Gabe’s eyes went wide as if he were looking at a ghost. “Miguel…?” he whispered in a breathy, disbelieving voice. He stood from his bed in a slow, methodical manner. He shook his head. “No… You… My brother is _dead._ ”

Miguel nodded slowly. That made sense. Of course he’d be dead. Sloan had probably used his knowledge and had left all kinds of instructions to make sure his work wasn’t reversed… “When?”

Gabe was still staring at him with wide eyes and a pale face. Miguel tried to hold back an annoyed sigh. He didn’t want to rush Gabe, but they didn’t have much time.

“Gabe…!”

He shook his head as if he was waking up. “Ten years ago,” he grumbled. “You… He was gunned down on the way to work. I was arrested shortly after…”

“You’ve been in here for _ten years?”_ Miguel gasped. “What for?”

He shrugged. “They don’t have any evidence, but…” he sat back down on the cot and held his head in his hands. This was a lot to take in. Miguel knew that… but he needed his brother to get things together.

“I need to fix this, Gabe!” he said quickly. He put his hand to the glass. “Please tell me that I had already made an AI.” If Gabe was in prison, he might be on his own on this one. He needed something to get him the information about this world.

Gabe shook his head slowly. “You can’t be him…” he whispered.

“It doesn’t matter! I’m going to fix this.”

He sighed deeply, closing his eyes. “End of Days…” he whispered.

“What?”

“My password at Alchemax. You… will need to get deep.” He stood and walked towards the glass, putting his hand where Miguel’s was. “You’re really him… aren’t you?” He nodded. Tears welled up in the young man’s eyes. “And something needs to be fixed?”

 _“Everything_ needs to be fixed.” He paused just long enough to look at his brother. “But I promise, I will fix this…” He thought about breaking Gabe out of the prison… but that would just endanger him further. “I was never here,” he said with a nod before looking towards the vent.

“Miguel… What are you going to do?”

He shot a web and tugged. “I’m going to find Sloan,” he said. “And then I’m going to shockin’ kill him.”


	21. Poison

Chapter Twenty-One: Poison

By the time Mary Jane had returned, Otto hadn’t heard from Miguel and they were no closer to figuring out what they needed to do and how. Miles had elected to stay for the time being; though Otto was sure the minute things went further downhill, he’d hightail and run. Otto couldn’t blame him, despite thinking he was cowardly. He poked at the food that MJ had prepared for them, listening idly as Peni tried to explain her culture to Miles. Otto tuned out their chatter and turned to the robot companion of Peni Parker. It was a marvelous piece of engineering and he would love to get his hands on it. It seemed to notice his staring and he went back to looking at the food.

He wasn’t hungry. The more time they wasted, the worse this was going to get. Or… not? He didn’t know anymore. All that mattered was building a time portal and praying that O’Hara reestablished his Chronal Link so they could fix this.

After minutes in thought, he became aware of eyes staring at him. He looked up slowly and caught MJ’s gaze before she looked away. He gently poked the food and looked back down at it. “When did he die?” he asked, cutting off Miles’ question about something in Peni’s world.

She didn’t answer and when he looked up to her, she avoided his gaze. He followed her eyes until his gaze landed on a picture of Peter. It wasn’t the Peter that they knew personally. He wasn’t as disheveled as the Peter B. Parker that they had known. “A few days before last Christmas,” she answered finally. “There was a big explosion at Alchemax and then… he was gone.” She swallowed. “He died as he lived… saving people.”

“Yeah, I guess he did,” Otto said with a shrug. He took a bite of the soup. He wanted to tell her that Peter was still alive, but he also didn’t want to give her false hope. The possibility of this mission being successful was low; lower than he wanted it to be.

Peni smiled at MJ. “We knew Peter,” she said. Otto turned to her sharply. That wasn’t something he really wanted fully disclosed. This woman had been through enough. “He was a great man.” He left a lot unsaid. He had died so they could live… but perhaps  _this_  Peter didn’t. He didn’t know, and he didn’t want to know.

While she and Miles discussed things with MJ, Otto stood and found a pen and paper. They needed the supplies, and they needed them as quickly as possible. It would be best to have everything ready for when Miguel reestablished the Link. He walked to MJ and handed her the list he had made. “We need these things if we’re going to fix this.”

 

Miguel was getting sick and tired of sneaking into Alchemax. The night was still young, and he had plenty of time before employees started filing in for the day. Luckily for him, the place hadn’t changed much in the shift and getting back to where he had left Peter was relatively simple for that reason.

He landed in the infirmary and moved to a computer after checking to make sure Peter’s condition was stable. He tried to log in with Gabe’s password, but was denied access. “I have to go deeper,” he grumbled and typed furiously on the computer. The systems in the computer were similar enough to the world he had left behind.  _Odd…_ he thought. One would think that their technology would have advanced further than this. “You’d think they’d want to make this harder for me,” he grumbled to Peter. He got no response and he turned to the man. “Don’t worry… I’ll… I’ll make this right.” He _had_ to make this right. This world wasn’t the world he was supposed to live in. He was a man outside of time and those who didn’t know there was anything wrong deserved to have the life they were meant to have.

He didn’t even want to think about what he would do if he couldn’t fix this. He had no place here and he feared that he might lose himself if he was forced to live in a world that didn’t know he was part of it… or worse, that didn’t know he _wasn’t_ part of it.

Finally, he found a deep-web log in and he typed in Gabe’s password. As he did, a small hologram appeared on the keyboard. It was in the shape of a young woman with long, curly hair. “Good evening, Miguel,” it said. Its voice was soft and soothing. “It has been a long time, sir.”

He smiled. “That it has.” He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. There were so many questions he wanted to ask. How did this world work? He wanted to know everything… but one question was probably the most important for the moment. “How… or why… Are you here?”

It offered him a soft smile. The detail on the face was incredible; even better than his own AI from his world. It made sense that the technology would be better off if Alchemax had Sloan’s future knowledge behind it. “Gabriel stored me here as a memento of his late brother… You died, Miguel. I do not understand…”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. Tell me everything you can about Alchemax.”

It nodded, probably better that he was asking it for something that it understood better. “Alchemax was founded in 1976 by Walker Sloan. After a brief rivalry with Oscorp, Alchemax came on top. It was able to establish a monopoly in most business sectors by 2010. The current CEO strives for more perfect control the company has on the world.”

Miguel waved his hand. That was all he needed. Sloan went back to the 70’s. If he could get back there and stop this from happening, then this world would cease to exist. That’s what he needed. “But I need someone here willing to make sure I get back to 2099,” he grumbled.

“Walker Sloan disappeared in 2020,” the AI continued without prompting. Miguel paused his thinking to look down at the hologram. “No one is sure what happened to him, and there are no records that indicate that a body was found.”

Miguel clenched his fists. Sloan disappeared? “He must have come back… to the future,” he mused. “Why bother changing the world if you don’t get to be in the time period where you can enjoy it?” He turned to Peter. “I  _will_ fix this,” he assured the masked man. He had to. Maybe he didn’t have to kill Sloan, but he needed to make sure the man didn’t have any opportunity to change the world as he had done. The world needed to be set back to what it had been.

And to do that, he needed help. He turned to the AI. “I need a Chronal Link established.”

“Of course. Person of Interest?”

“Peter Parker.”

It nodded and the screen on the computer changed. He closed his eyes as a pressure built up behind his eyes. It felt as if they were being pushed out. When the pressure stopped, he stood up straighter. “Parker?” he asked tentatively. He held his breath as he waited. There was a possibility that the group had gone home. He wouldn’t have been happy about that, but he couldn’t blame them if they had.

Just when he was starting to lose hope, he heard the broken voice of Parker in his head.  _“O’Hara?”_ he gasped as his voice grew stronger.  _“You’re still alive!”_

Miguel couldn’t help himself; he laughed softly. The relief in Parker’s voice was infectious. “Yes,” he said with a smile. Parker sounded so reassured and it felt good to hear a familiar voice; even if he didn’t know the man very well. “Are you okay?”

 _“We’re fine… But it’s been_ weeks!  _I was sure you were dead!”_

Miguel blinked. Weeks? He turned away from the computer, nodding his thanks to the AI. “Weeks? It’s only been a few hours here…” Apparently the link had only managed to establish itself at that point in the timeline. “I’m sorry.”

 _“It’s fine.”_ He didn’t seem too concerned about their lost few weeks. In fact, he sounded almost excited. Had the connection been the pickup he needed, or did they have a plan? _“We’ve been busy. The things that we need for the time portal are only in Alchemax. We are planning a raid for the materials… tonight.”_

He walked towards the bed where Peter was lying and sat down on it. “We?”

 _“The other Spider-people I came here with,”_  Parker explained. His happy tone was gone; replaced by a more serious one. That also was to be expected. Their whole lives were hanging on the balance; and it seemed like tonight was their final challenge. It was swim or die, now.

“I see.” He looked to the AI as it watched him without interest. “There might already be a time portal at Alchemax.” It was just a theory… but Sloan had disappeared in the year 2020, and there was a reason the Chronal Link opened up there instead of when they had broken contact. That night had to be when Sloan made the jump to 2099 to reap the rewards of his work. He’d love to find the man in his time but stopping him in 2099 would fix nothing.

 _“Why do you think that?”_ he asked. Miguel waited while he explained to the people that he was with that he had reestablished contact with 2099.

When all fell silent, Miguel continued. “Sloan vanished in your year… I think he came back to my time. That means he has a time portal already in your time. All you have to do is hijack it.”

“ _All?”_  He laughed.  _“I’m betting that’s easier said than done?”_

“Probably,” Miguel agreed. “But I’ll be with you every step of the way, Parker. I can guide you through the facility.”

 _“That will work,”_  Parker said. Miguel stopped focusing on him for a moment so he could try to get Peter to wake up. There was a lot that man needed to know. So far, everything was going smoothly; much to Miguel’s pleasure. He didn’t stop to think that things were going too smoothly. As he turned to Peter, a feeling passed through him. He didn’t have Spider sense like his counterparts, but he could sometimes tell when something was wrong… and now something was  _very_  wrong.

He turned in time to see a man standing on an observation platform above the infirmary. It looked almost like it was an observation deck for surgeries. Miguel looked up, trying to get a lock on the person above him. The man above him was shrouded in shadows and he couldn’t make out any distinguishing features.

He put his hands on the glass separating him as Miguel stood from where he was sitting. “Hello, Miguel O’Hara,” the man greeted kindly. He sounded old… Old and tired. “It’s been so long. I believed I would never see you again.”

Miguel narrowed his eyes. This man knew who he was? Impossible. Miguel O’Hara of this reality was ten years dead. “Who are you?”

“I’m like you,” he said with a soft tone. “A man outside of time… an outsider to this world.”

Miguel clenched his fists. There was only one other person who would consider himself out of time. “Sloan,” he hissed.

The man laughed softly. “I suppose you can call me what you wish, Miguel. We are kindred spirits; both too far removed from this life to care much about it.”

“You don’t know enough about me to make that assumption.”

He shrugged and turned his gaze to Peter. Miguel narrowed his eyes.  He didn’t like how dismissive this man was being. This was important. This was perhaps the most important thing ever. “I know you better than you think, Miggy.”

Miguel flinched back slightly. That was a name he wasn’t expecting to hear from this stranger.

“Do you know what I’ve learned in my  _very_  long life?”

“I don’t care.”

He nodded slowly; as if he had been expecting that answer. “No… I suppose you don’t… but I will keep this brief because someone once made me sit and listen to their long and complicated story, and it is my turn to pass on the favor.” He waved his hand, motioning to the building around them. “This isn’t my creation. I stood on the backs of giants and stole the gold at the top of the beanstalk. I inherited the harp and used it to control the world.” He leaned on the glass.

Miguel was hardly paying attention as he looked for a way to get up there without getting caught. There didn’t seem to be a way to get up there from the infirmary proper. The entrance was probably in the hallway. There was no way to get up there without alerting this man that he was coming. He leaned on Peter’s bed and put his hand on the man’s arm. He felt he could take the old man in the room.

“You’re looking for a way to get up here quick enough,” he said. Miguel felt like this person was reading his mind and he didn’t like it. “Calm down. If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be alive right now. Things are simple, Miguel. I once thought that I could control time… but the thing that I learned was that we are only ever where we’re supposed to be. Anything we do… any place we are is based solely on design.”

“I don’t believe in fate,” he said with a shrug. He didn’t want to be humoring this man, but the things that he was saying were ridiculous.

He turned to Miguel and he swore there was a smile on that man’s lips. “You will.” He put his hands on the glass and pushed forward, leaning heavily. “But I suppose I should keep this short. When I was your age, someone told me that if I wanted the world to change, _I_ had to be the change I want to see in the world. I get that it’s cliché… an old saying from his time.” He motioned to Peter. “And I rolled my eyes at him just as you are rolling your eyes at me.”

Miguel scoffed. There was something familiar about this man. He didn’t know Sloan very well before all of this, but it made sense that he would have known a lot about him. He knew this day was going to come. He had been preparing for it. He probably had a speech written up there. “I clawed my way up this world and the one thing I had to learn on my own is that this world doesn’t give a damn about you. You don’t belong here, Miguel O’Hara. You are the interloper!”

Miguel took a few steps forward. “Aren’t you one as well?” he asked. “Aren’t you just a man playing pretend? You don’t belong here anymore than I do.”

He nodded. “You’re right… I don’t.” He walked away from the glass and Miguel couldn’t see him for a moment. He bunched his muscles to lunge forward but before he could, the man returned dragging someone behind him. Miguel clenched his fists. His blood ran cold when the man shoved his prisoner against the glass wall.

“Gabe!”

“You know him?” the man asked, cocking his head. “Yes, I suppose you would. Has he changed much since you last saw him?”

Miguel stepped forward. How thick was that glass? “Leave him alone! He’s got nothing to do with this!”

“Miguel…?” Gabe asked. His voice shook. This wasn’t his version of his brother. He wasn’t used to Spider-man exploits. He was just a kid who had gotten caught in this mess before he even had a chance to make his own life.

“He’s got everything to do with it.”

Miguel lunged to the window and slammed his fists against it. Gabe shouted in surprise, but the man didn’t even flinch. Miguel banged on the glass. It didn’t break. “I prepared for this, Miguel. You don’t stand a chance here.”

The glass wasn’t even cracking. He hit harder. It made no difference. The man pulled out a knife. “Such a primitive weapon,” he said. “Guns are so much more efficient, and poison has less mess.” He grabbed Gabe’s hair and yanked his head back.

“Don’t!” Miguel screamed.

 _“What’s going on?”_ Parker’s voice erupted in his head, but he ignored it.

His world shattered when the man drew the knife over Gabe’s throat and dropped him. His brother put his hand to the wound as Miguel tried with all his power to break the glass. The man didn’t seem the least bit concerned, even as Gabe collapsed and Miguel managed to crack the first layer of the glass.

By the time he managed to break through, Gabe’s struggles and gasping had stopped. He landed on his knees in his brother’s blood. The man still showed no concern. Miguel decided that he would give the man a reason to fear him. He lunged at him and they fell onto the ground with Miguel on top, holding his hand up to deal a blow.

The man’s face was old and unfamiliar to Miguel; but he didn’t know if that was the rage clouding his vision. “You had no reason!” he shouted. “No shocking reason! He was innocent!”

“He wasn’t _your_ Gabriel,” the man reasoned. If he could shrug. Miguel was certain that he would. His whole attitude remained nonchalant despite the fact that he had just murdered someone. “If you kill me now… it fixes nothing. _Nothing…”_ Miguel clenched his fists. He didn’t care. “You aren’t a murderer, Miguel. Killing me will accomplish nothing except making you feel better for ten minutes, and then you’ll be sick because your hands are bloodied!”

“So are yours!”

“Yes,” he said with a nod. “But I can live with that.” He reached up and punched Miguel hard on the temple, sending him sprawling on the ground. He stood and straightened the suit he was wearing before kicking Miguel in his side with more force than Miguel had been expecting. He gasped and rolled over. “You want to change this world, Miggy? Then do it.”

Miguel could only watch as the man walked away. He was right. Nothing could fix this unless he went back and stopped it all from happening.

_“O’Hara…? What happened?”_

He stood, slipping slightly in the blood that covered the floor. His gaze fell on Gabe’s body and his stomach lurched. “Get to Alchemax,” he snapped. “This ends… _tonight._ ”


	22. Back in Time

> Chapter Twenty-Two: Back in Time

Otto didn’t know what was happening on O’Hara’s end, but he had gotten Peni and Miles to get out of the house without all the information. Neither one of them were asking questions, though Otto knew they wanted to know.  _He_  wanted to know, but O’Hara had broken contact with them. Whatever was going on in 2099 wasn’t important to what was going on in 2020. O’Hara had to go through it alone if he wasn’t going to share what was happening. Otto cursed under his breath as they walked through the abandoned streets.

It was weird heading through New York without the hustle and bustle of people. In every version he had been to, there had been crowds in the city just like his own. This New York was deserted. Apparently, there were curfews in affect, and people were too scared to break them. The control over the city lasted up to, and maybe beyond, O’Hara’s time. He had to think about the other superheroes… but the world probably saw their little city and not cared. What was the population of New York compared to the rest of the world? 

Those thoughts and more were running through his head as they neared the Alchemax tower. Luckily, it seemed that Sloan didn’t think it was needed to have robots patrolling the streets. This was a world without a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man, and no one was brave enough to be out after dark. They were wearing their suits and Peni was in her robot. It stood out like a sore thumb, but Otto was thankful she was there. 

Miles, on the other hand, was becoming a handful. Otto didn’t blame him, but he wished Miles would either get all in on this or go home. He had family in his world that was probably going to kill him for being gone for weeks at a time. “Are you sure about this?” Miles asked as they stared through the gates leading to the building.

Otto didn’t know how to answer that. No, he wasn’t sure about this. He wasn’t sure about any of this; but what other choice did they have? They had to try something. They had already wasted a handful of weeks here and if they didn’t try, then what were they doing? “I’m not,” he admitted. “But I told you, we would succeed… no matter what.”

Miles scoffed. “The last time someone promised that, they died.”

Otto nodded slowly. Yes, that was true. The only reason they were all still here was because Peter had promised them that they would get out of their last situation, no matter the cost. The cost had been high, but this one wasn’t nearly as high. They had taken time, but this wasn’t nearly as dangerous as their last mission. “Look, kid…”

“Save it,” he snapped.

Otto watched him as he turned his back and headed for the gate with Peni to find an entrance. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Otto asked the air.

_ “Are you at Alchemax? _ ” O’Hara asked. His voice was different; tired… older…

Otto gasped at the sudden intrusion in his mind. They were going to have to figure this out because he might be on a mission and a random intrusion could get them all killed. He decided not to bother with that, though. The last thing he needed was another spider person on his team angry at him. Miles was already on his throat. He didn’t need O’Hara bugging him as well. “We are.”

“ _Good.”_ _He sounded breathless and angry._ _“You need to head towards the southwest entrance. Records indicate that there is a vent entrance there for easy access._ ”

Otto shook his head and wrung his fingers as he prattled off the instructions to Peni and Miles. They nodded and headed in that direction. “What happened?” he asked once the other two were far enough ahead. “And don’t tell me nothing. Something happened. Tell me, or I won’t do this.”

O’Hara groaned. “ _I met the CEO of Alchemax.”_

“Sloan?”

_ “I think so. He… He killed my brother.” _

Otto stopped walking. That wasn’t something that he was expecting. He hadn’t met the mastermind of this operation but murdering someone’s brother in front of them never ended well for the murderer. “And what do you plan on doing to fix that?”

He sighed. “ _I don’t know… I wanted to kill him here but…”_

“That wouldn’t fix anything.” He closed his eyes. “We aren’t an assassination team, O’Hara…” He didn’t have too many qualms with killing Sloan, but he figured Peni and Miles would have a few unsavory opinions on that one. They hadn’t really come up with a plan on what they’d do once they got to Sloan. The world wasn’t fixed just by apprehending Sloan. 

_ “I know…” _

“Killing Sloan doesn’t make any of this better.” It wouldn’t hurt, but he kept that to himself. “If we fix the time stream, your brother will still be alive,” he assured his counterpart. That was the goal now… stop Sloan and put everything back how it was supposed to be. “How’s Peter?”

_ “Still unconscious. He’s going to be in for quite a shock when he wakes up.”  _ There was a little humor back in the young man’s voice. He smiled.

“Quite,” Otto agreed. They were at the southwest entrance by that point. Peni’s robot opened the vent and Miles jumped inside without waiting for orders. Otto turned to her and the robot. “You need to stay out here, my dear,” he said. “This is an infiltration and the robot is loud. We’ll keep in contact.”

Peni removed the faceplate of the robot and handed Otto a communication device. He expected her to argue about being left behind. The infiltration mission was probably the most important part and he had dealt with bigheaded people in his line of work. Instead of arguing, though, she smiled. “Keep me in the loop,” she said, putting a hand on Otto’s. “And Otto… Be careful.” She smiled up at him and Otto could only offer her a grin in return. She had been one of the only people in this entire adventure that had taken the news that he was Otto Octavius with nothing more than a shrug. Maybe there was something to it. “Keep Miles safe, okay? You can keep yourself safe, but he… he’s scared.”

_ He should be, _  Otto thought but didn’t voice that opinion. “Don’t worry about him. I promise…” _If only one of us gets to make it out… it won’t be me._ He, again, didn’t make that promise out loud. That probably wouldn’t make her feel better. “He’ll be fine.” He jumped into the vent after Miles. He was waiting for Otto and the two hurried through the vent in silence. Otto would rather have Peni being his point on this one. 

_ “Shock!”  _ O’Hara shouted. Otto flinched back, hitting the side of the vent. Miles spun around to look at him. His face was probably annoyed. Otto didn’t know how to explain what this was like, and they didn’t have time. Miles could be annoyed at his outbursts if he wanted. 

“What now?” he asked, then to Miles when he looked back again. “Not you…! Keep moving.”

_ “Your suit… Is it black and red?”  _

“Yeah… but so is the kid’s I’m with.” Miles turned back again. Otto waved him on. “What do you need to know?”

_ “I… I can’t explain it.”  _

“O’Hara, you need to explain something to me. Don’t ask about my suit if you aren’t going to elaborate. How the hell do you even know what my suit looks like?” 

O’Hara sighed. _“Parker… I think… I’m seeing flashes. The time stream is freaking out.”_

Otto let him talk as he crawled through the vent. None of this was making any sense and the man on the other end of the temporal call sounded like he was freaking out. That wouldn’t do. He _needed_ O’Hara to keep his cool. Now wasn’t the time for this mission to be falling apart. “O’Hara…! You aren’t making any sense.”

_ “You… you die!”  _ O’Hara gasped. Otto stopped the crawl and Miles froze in front of him. _“Right there… in Alchemax. Tonight.”_

“Keep moving, Kid,” he told Miles, urging him forward. “What floor is the time portal on?”

_ “You aren’t concerned?”  _

“I can’t be concerned.” Otto said as he opened a vent and dropped down into the hallway. Miles dropped behind him. “There’s no time to be concerned. If I…” he trailed off and looked at the kid in his care. “If what you say is true, then that’s that. I don’t want to know what happens in my future. All I want to know is where the damn portal is!” 

_ “We can prevent this!”  _ O’Hara shouted.

Otto ran his hands over the top of his mask. O’Hara’s nerves seemed to be frayed and Otto’s were getting that way. “Do you know who it was?” he asked. “And where?” 

“What’s going on?” Miles asked.

How would he react to knowing that one of them was destined to die on this mission? The kid had the worst nerves of all of them. It was still too early in his career to process all of this. This wasn’t a part of any of their career. It shouldn’t be. “Just… keep walking. What floor are we going to?”

_ “The 66th. And I don’t know who deals your final blow… but I’ve seen it. Blood everywhere… Almost like you were torn apart.”  _

“Thanks for the details… What do your records say? Wouldn’t a murder like that be front page news?” He hated that Miles could hear only half of the conversation. He was probably confused and terrified, and hearing words like “murder” out of context couldn’t be good on his nerves. 

_ “The weird thing is that it’s not  _ in _the records… not even hidden records. It’s like… it didn’t happen.”_

“Then maybe it won’t?” Otto suggested. They had made it to the elevator by that point and Miles was working to get them into the room to get to the floor they needed. He shook his head and rested his hands on the wall, leaning against them. Too much… too much was happening. Why weren’t they being stopped? Why was any of this happening? 

_ “I’ve seen it! You die  _ tonight, _Parker! And I can’t do a shocking thing to stop it!”_

“Then maybe it’s not our place to stop it.” He didn’t wait to hear O’Hara’s response to that as Miles opened the door. “We’re going to the 66th floor, O’Hara… and that’s that. I’ll get in contact with you if we need any help.” He stopped focusing on the connection and O’Hara’s voice sputtered out and died, leaving him alone with his own thoughts. 

Once they were in the elevator, Otto walked to the back and crossed his arms while it started moving. Miles turned to him. “You have to tell me what’s going on, Otto. You’re sitting here talking about murder and demanding things from a voice in your head. What the hell, man?” 

He sighed and closed his eyes. “If you had a way to know when your death is, would you run head first into it, or would you ran away?”

Miles scoffed. “I didn’t think you’d be afraid of death.” 

“I crawled my way from the deepest pit of hell to get back to a life,” Otto said quietly. “I don’t fear death, but I’d like to avoid it as much as possible.”

He shrugged. “You’re asking the wrong guy. Less than a year ago, I was just a kid whose worst problems were my grades. Now I’m a superhero trying to save a literal time stream and an entire dimension.” He laughed. “Talk about year one, right?”

“I suppose that’s a bit much for a freshman.” 

“As for your question… I guess it depends. If I died in a plane or car crash for no reason, then I’d probably never get into a car or plane again.” He shrugged and Otto smiled, shaking his head slowly. “But if my death meant saving someone, and they would die if I didn’t run headfirst into it, then I would think twice about hightailing it.”

“You’ve grown,” Otto said. He looked up at the ceiling. Not too long ago, Miles was terrified of everything; especially death. Now he was making rational choices about meeting death in the face. That was something he hadn’t been expecting to see. Maybe once he would have found Miles pathetic… but now he was also staring death in the eye. He was heading towards death. Not long ago, he would have laughed at the notion of sacrificing oneself for someone else… someone that he didn’t even know; an alternate version of his sworn enemy. It was stupid and terrifying, but he didn’t care. 

“What’s going on, Otto?”

“Our prophet from the future has informed me that I meet my doom here… tonight. Apparently, destiny awaits.”

Miles cocked his head and turned to Otto, pulling at his mask slightly. “And you’re okay with that?”

“No,” he said truthfully. How was he supposed to be okay with that? No one ever wanted to know when they were supposed to die; especially if they had the option to flee from it. “But whatever. It doesn’t matter.” The elevator dinged and he smiled. “The die is cast.”

The door slid open into a large open room with a single round structure in the middle of it. The stargate wasn’t on and there was a man standing at a terminal. He was elderly, but Otto could see the wisdom in the man. “Walker Sloan?” he called.

The man turned around and smiled. “Ah, what do we have here? Two Spider-men here to challenge me?”

Otto stepped forward, taking point. There was nothing in the room that seemed dangerous enough to hurt him and Miles; let alone kill them. “Are you planning on going back to the future now that you’ve finished messing this world up?”

Sloan laughed and shook his head, straightening out the lab coat he was wearing. “Messing this world up?” he repeated. “Just because it’s not the world that you two know doesn’t mean I’ve screwed anything up. This world is _better!”_

“Better?” Ott scoffed. “People are living in fear and you call it better?”

“Crime is down,” Sloan returned. “Crime is down, and people are safe. I wouldn’t call that fear! I made a world where you and your ilk are obsolete! We don’t need Spider-man anymore! I saved this city and all you care about is getting your crime-ridden city back to how it was so you can come in here and where a mask like its Halloween!” 

“You’re delusional,” Miles snapped before Otto could say anything. Yes, this man was crazy… but was he also right? Otto had trampled on people’s rights in an attempt to keep them safe. Wasn’t this the next logical step in that? He shook his head. No… he wasn’t going to stoop to that level. He would never… This wasn’t safety, this was fear. 

“I may be delusional, but you two are the ones dressed up in costumes beating on poor people for kicks.” 

“You think we do this for kicks?” Miles interjected. “We do this to save lives!”

“And I’ve saved this city!” Sloan snapped. He stepped towards them. He had to be crazy if he thought that he could take on two superpowered beings. “I’ve had years to plan this meeting. I thought Peter Parker was dead, but I guess he just changed into a new suit and got a sidekick. You two can get in my way, or you can let me enjoy the world that I’ve made by going back to my own time.”

Otto ran at Sloan and dragged him to the ground. He was an old man who didn’t have any way to beat two Spider-people. 

_ “Parker! Something’s… changing here!”  _

He shook his head. “I will kill you Sloan… for what you’ve done and what you will do! And then I’ll go back in time in the ‘70’s and I will kill you there as well.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Sloan spat. He wasn’t even struggling and it infuriated Otto. He needed to know that his life was in danger. “You’re Peter Parker! The man who would risk his own life to save someone who killed his aunt! We had records on you! You save people! You don’t take their lives.”

Otto rolled his eyes. That was one thing that bothered him about whose body he stole. People thought they knew who he was, and they thought that their lives were safe because Peter Parker didn’t kill. “Peter Parker doesn’t take lives. I’m not Peter Parker, though.” He put his hand on Sloan’s throat. He had told O’Hara that he wasn’t an assassin, but this… this wasn’t what he had been expecting. Sloan was a special kind of crazy.

_ “Parker! What are you doing? The time stream… it’s changing here!”  _

“My name is not Peter Parker!” Otto shouted, both the Sloan and O’Hara. “My name is Doctor Otto Octavius! And I won’t hesitate…!”

“Otto!” Miles shouted. 

He looked down at the man at his mercy. An old man… Nothing more than a crazy old man. “You said you prepared for this…” Otto whispered. “You said you were ready for anything, but you’re not. You’re just a feeble old man who thought you’d change the world.” 

He stepped off of Sloan and took a step back. “Miles, we’re going to save Peter.” 

_ “Parker… Or, Otto… You still die tonight.”  _

“Impossible,” he hissed as he walked towards the terminal. “We’ve beaten Sloan. There’s nothing here that could kill me. We’re heading for the future now to get Peter.”

_ “No! It’s still happening!”  _

“How?” 

As if answering his question, a while and black _thing_ streaked towards him. Otto’s eyes widened and he jumped back just in time for the beast to destroy the terminal where he had been standing. He stood slowly. “Anti-Venom…?” he gasped. Anti roared and lunged at Otto, using his white tendrils to wrap around his body. “What the hell?” 

_ “What’s going on?”  _

Otto said nothing. He couldn’t. All he could do was scream as Anti-Venom used its long tendrils to dig into his body. Torn apart… just like this. 

_ “I’m coming!”  _

Coming? What did that mean? He didn’t have time to question it before Anti-Venom hurled him away… and into the time portal. The whole world fell away into blue and white swirls. It was like flying through space. There was no air and his scream made no sound as the void swallowed him whole. There was just a moment when he caught a glimpse of someone passing through the vortex with him and then he was out. 

The world slammed back into him as he hit the ground and rolled, slamming his back onto the wall on the other side. His body felt weak and when he tried to stand, he fell back to the ground, hitting his head on the metal floor as his body gave up.


	23. Burn it Down

Chapter Twenty-Three: Burn it Down

Miguel landed in 2020 hard, sliding to a halt several feet away from the portal. He fared better than his othertimely counterpart since he hadn’t been forced through the portal and instead had gone in of his own free will. As he stood, he found himself facing a large, howling black and white beast. “Well… that’ll cause the damages I saw,” he grumbled, trying to keep that image out of his head. He remembered seeing a black and red suited spider-person in the time vortex. That had to be Parker… or, Otto? However that worked. Last he checked, Otto Octavius was an enemy of Spider-man, not _a_ Spider-man. But he supposed when things were of other dimensions, they could be a bit wonky. It didn’t mean that hit made much sense, though.

What he needed to focus on was who this other kid was; and what this rage monster even was. There were no records of this beast that he knew of and he didn’t know how to beat him. For all he knew, this was a creation of Sloan and that’s why it hadn’t been in his archives.

He turned to the kid. Whatever it was, it needed to be stopped. “Any idea what this is?”

“No,” he returned shakily. Well, that at least answered the question of the gender of this mysterious child. What it didn’t clear up was why he was here when clearly he wasn’t ready for any of this. His legs were shaking. Why had Parker brought him into something he wasn’t prepared for?

“It’s Anti-Venom,” Sloan snapped, answering one of Miguel’s many questions. “And I got him to prepare for the fight with Spider-man, but I suppose you knock-offs will do.”

As if in response to Sloan’s gloating, the beast roared and lunged for Miguel. He jumped away from it as it charged like a bull in a bullfight. The kid didn’t seem too interested in jumping in and helping. “If you aren’t going to help fight, then go after Sloan! He’s the only way to get me home!” Miguel shouted, annoyed. Who was this kid and why didn’t he seem keen on helping? Was he new at this? He didn’t wait to see if his partner was going to do as he was told. He couldn’t take his eyes off the beast.

“So… you’re Anti-Venom?” The response was a loud howl. It wasn’t wat he was hoping for, but it was what he had been expecting. The thing didn’t seem too interested in striking up a conversation. That was fair. It wasn’t good, but it was fair. It ran at him instead, throwing long white tendrils forward as it came. Miguel tried to roll away, but was a hair too slow. Anti-Venom’s tendrils wrapped around his body, digging into his flesh.

“I will cure you,” it said in a throaty growl.

“Cure?” He didn’t have time to question what that meant before his attacker hurled him into an adjacent wall, shattering through it. Rubble and dust landed around him as his slid to a halt. “What the shock…?”

Before he had a chance to get up, Anti-Venom was on top of him, clawing through his suit. “Must… cure…!” The tendrils dug into his flesh.

“Cure what?” Miguel gasped, kicking out at the creature.

“Radiation…!”

“My powers aren’t radiation based!” he shouted as he kicked Anti-Venom away from him. The creature went flying and Miguel stood, looking down at his torn body. “Parker! How do I beat this thing?” he asked the air. There was no answer. “Parker!” Either their contact was broken, or he was unconscious.  _Or he didn’t survive the trip through the vortex,_ _a voice grumbled in his head. It was a cynical thought, but there were reasons to believe that he hadn’t survived._

He shook his head as he stumbled back towards the room. He couldn’t think like that. Parker, or Otto, had to still be alive. Miguel had seen his demise; his brutal, gruesome death and that had nothing to do with the portal. Anti-Venom was crouched on the ground, growling angrily. “Are we done?” he asked.

“Cure…”

“I don’t need to be cured.” He looked around. The kid and Sloan were gone. “Why do you want to kill me?”

Anti-Venom shook its head. “Not kill… distract… So Sloan could escape. We don’t kill anymore.” Now that it was speaking without anger, its voice was almost like a deep purring.

Miguel cocked his head. “You don’t kill?” If that was the case, who killed Parker? The wounds he had seen could have been caused by the creature before him, but Anti-Venom clearly had no intention of killing anyone. Now that Sloan was gone and there was nothing for it to cure, it seemed content to huddle in a corner and lick its wounds. Not that it had many wounds to lick. Miguel felt like he had gone through a paper shredder. “Where’s Sloan?”

“We don’t know.”

Great… That was helpful. He looked around at the building. Alchemax, 2020. It didn’t look much different. “Parker?” It was a longshot and he got no answer, as expected. He walked towards the terminal, but it was destroyed. He was stuck there. His only hope was that Lyla would take Parker’s orders and walk him through getting a time portal open so he could go home.

After a while, the kid returned; alone. He sighed. “Sloan?” he asked. Maybe the man was dead. He didn’t know the kill policies of these other people

He shrugged. “He got away. The guy knows his way around this building.”

Miguel groaned and sat down, nursing his wounds. Anti-Venom didn’t seem interested in them anymore. “So, what’s your name?”

“Miles… And you are?”

He held out his hand. “Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-man of 2099.”

Miles took his outstretched hand. “Otto wasn’t lying, then?”

He shook his head as he withdrew from the handshake and then buried his face in his hands. “Otto?” Things weren’t making much sense anyway, but that was the one thing that really wasn’t making any sense. As far as he knew, Otto was a villain in Spider-man’s rouge gallery, not another Spider-person.

Miles shrugged and looked off in the distance towards Anti-Venom. It was unnerving being in the same room as the creature but it seemed to be pacified as long as its mission was complete. Sloan had escaped. “It’s a long story,” Miles grumbled. “Ask him if you can still talk to him.”

Miguel shook his head slowly. “I can’t. It seems we’ve lost contact.” he groaned.

“And now you’re stuck here.” He nodded. “That sucks.”

“I don’t see how anything is sucking.”

Miles looked away with a soft sigh. For a long moment, the two said nothing to one another. Neither seemed willing to acknowledge what was really going on; and Miguel didn’t want to acknowledge that he had come to the past for one sole purpose… to save Gabriel. Sloan was still alive and that meant Gabe was still dead in the future.

He stood with a long sigh. “We need to find Sloan.” He stretched and then, in the most nonchalant voice he could muster, he said “Also, your friend is going to die if we don’t do something about it.

 

“Otto…?”

He groaned softly. Someone was shaking his shoulder. The power behind the shakes were weak and the voice saying his name didn’t sound very healthy. At first, all he felt was the shaking and all he heard was the muttered of the person. Then his body seemed to become aware of what had happened. The pain started in his back and radiated from there. His muscles ached and his bones felt cracked. His head felt like it was being squeezed in a compressor. Not all the pain he was feeling could be explained by saying that he had a bad landing. Flying through the time vortex had taken a toll on him.

Finally, after several minutes, he let out a soft moan and opened his eyes. Peter was kneeling in front of him, shaking his shoulder gently. Since he was wearing a mask, he took a moment to observe Peter. He looked worse than he had the last time he had seen him. His eyes were sunken in and his face was pale.

Otto stirred to let Peter know that he was awake and he rolled over. “What year is it?”

“2099,” Peter answered. The absurdity of it wasn’t lost on Otto. The way Peter had said the year was like he was asking the time. “Welcome to the future.”

Otto looked around. Everything was grey and lifeless. When he had taken the body of his world’s Peter, he had started to see the world in a different light. This wasn’t the colorful world he had left behind. This was a sad, depressing world. “Thanks. I hate it.”

Peter smiled. “Me too.” He sounded tired.

“You sound awful,” Otto grumbled.

“I probably sound worse than I feel. How…?”

Otto shrugged. “I got thrown to the portal by Anti-Venom.” He looked around. They seemed to be alone. “Where’s O’Hara?”

“Miguel?” Peter also looked around and then shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Does he wear a dark blue, or maybe black suit?” Peter nodded. “Then… he might be in 2020…”

Peter turned to him sharply. The move was apparently too quick because he teetered slightly and grabbed his head with a soft groan. “You’re from 2020?” he asked. It was odd that that was the first thing he wanted to question about this. There were so many questions that should be considered about this ordeal. Otto didn’t harp on it, though. He merely nodded carefully. “And 2099 is in 2020?”

“It appears that way, yes.” He tried not to let his annoyance enter his voice. This whole thing was about saving Peter and he didn’t want to sound too bothered by his own self-imposed mission. He rubbed his head. “And it would also appear that we are stuck in 2099 until we can fix the time portal.”

He tried to stand, but stumbled back. Peter grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. “Easy there, buddy.”

Buddy… Otto didn’t question it. They were trapped in the future together and were each other’s lifeline for the time being. Peter would cling to anyone he could. He steadied himself and looked towards the time portal. It was sputtering, but it didn’t appear to be damaged on their end. “O’Hara?” he said to the air. There was no answer. “O’Hara? Are you there?”

“I thought you said he was in 2020.”

Otto waved his hand. “It’s a long and complicated story. Let’s just say he and I are psychically linked.”

“I’m…” Peter shook his head. “You know what, I’m not going to question that. I spent decades in an atomized state and I’m willing to believe anything at this point.” He sat down on the bed that he had been lying on and buried his head in his hands. Otto wasn’t sure which one of them was taking this worse. It didn’t matter, though. What did matter was getting them home.

He walked from the medical room that he had been thrown into. When the portal had spat him out, it had propelled him through the wall and into the med bay. Peter looked up as he walked out and headed for the terminal. It didn’t seem damaged, but something was clearly wrong with it. The mechanical whirring coming from the machine didn’t sound like it should sound.

He put his hands on the terminal. This was his only way home; their only lifeline. “So,” Peter said, coming over. “You really did all of this to save me?”

Otto waved his hand, feigning distraction. In truth, there was nothing on that terminal that was going to tell him anything he didn’t know. It wasn’t working and it seemed like the problem wasn’t on their end. It was on the 2020 end and without contact with Miguel, it meant that all they could do was wait. “Don’t flatter yourself. I merely noticed an anomaly in your universe and saw it as an interesting challenge. I had already become one of the fist interdimensional travelers, so I thought I would also give time travel a go. I enjoy the challenge.”

“Of course you do.” He didn’t sound convinced, but Otto decided to keep his thoughts to himself. He kept his eyes on the terminal, running his hands over the buttons. It was a masterful piece of equipment and there was a chance he could figure out how to harness this. “I see that you completed that mission.”

“Going into the future is the easy part,” Otto said quietly. “It’s going into the past that causes problems. We are meant to move forward.”

“Miguel went to the past,” Peter pointed out.

“Yes, and I’ve lost contact with him. The chances that he didn’t survive…” He shook his head. He wasn’t about to lose anyone on this mission. This whole thing had been his idea and he wasn’t going to be the cause of anyone’s death if he could help it. “Anyway, someone went back in time and changed everything, so backwards time travel is possible. We just need the portal to open in 2020.”

Peter looked out the window. “So, that’s what happened?” Otto nodded. “How’s MJ? Did you… did you see her?”

Otto nodded. He almost dismissed Peter’s worries. The MJ that they would be returning to wasn’t the MJ that he had left. Regardless, the world would need to be reset to how it had been before this whole mess happened. They hadn’t spent much time with this Peter’s MJ. But then he thought of Anna Maria and he sighed. He would want to know how she was doing in any reality. It wouldn’t matter to him. He knew how much Peter cared for Mary Jane. It was that love for her that had kept him away, since he wasn’t her Peter Parker. “She was well when we left her,” he assured Peter. “She was very confused, but she helped in any way that she could. We didn’t tell her that you were alive because we didn’t want to give her that hope.”

“We?” Peter asked after he had taken a moment to process.

“Peni and Miles,” Otto explained.

“You brought Miles back into this?” He sounded almost annoyed at the thought.

Otto rolled his eyes. “I didn’t bring him along, he came along. I went to his world to seek the help of Olivia, but she would have nothing to do with this. When Miles found out that I believed you to still be alive, he jumped at the chance to come and help. Unlike me, he’s a bleeding heart.”

“I don’t know… you’re heart seems to be bleeding a little.”

“I told you, I did this for the challenge,” he said with a shrug. He didn’t want Peter harping on this. The worst thing that could be done at that moment was to make Peter think he cared. “Either way, we have another challenge… getting you home, so I can go home.”

Peter looked away and sighed deeply. “Do you… have someone at home?” Otto shook his head slowly. The hesitation was normal in Peter’s voice. He probably thought that Otto was using his status of Peter Parker to get with his world’s MJ. That probably wouldn’t sit well with Peter, since the world didn’t know that he wasn’t Peter Parker.

“I do,” he said, but he didn’t want to elaborate on that. That was private… though he didn’t have a leg to stand on when it came to privacy.

Suddenly, Otto’s spider sense sent a shiver down his spine. It wasn’t a warning for immediate danger, but it was telling him that someone very powerful, and very much an enemy, was in the room. “Well, well, well,” a voice called. Otto clenched his fists. “What do we have here?” He laughed. “Or, maybe I shouldn’t be asking that. I’ve waited quite some time for this day.”

Otto spun to see a man standing in the doorway. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and a red tie. “Sloan?” Otto asked. The man was old with a weathered face and skin like leather. He was hardened and battle worn.

The man smirked. “Perhaps. You can call me whatever you want, Dr. Octavius.”

Otto flinched and clenched his fists tighter. That wasn’t what he had been expecting. Only a handful of people knew who he was. If saying his name was meant to be a distraction, it worked. Before Otto could react, the old man moved much faster than should be possible. He grabbed Peter and hurled him against the wall. He crumpled to the ground as Otto went to run towards him. He hadn’t come this far just to lose Peter to an old man.

“Don’t move!” he snapped. His voice was commanding. Otto froze and turned to elder. “Don’t worry about him. He isn’t my target. He’s just a victim… a victim of your meddling!”

“ _My_ meddling? What are you talking about?”

The man stepped forward. “I’ve planned this… for years… for seventy-nine years, I’ve planned.” He laughed. “You’d think I would have prepared better for this… That I would have a speech prepared for the man who took everything from me!”

Otto cocked his head. There was something familiar about the voice. It was older and harsher, but… familiar. “I’ve never met you before. I’ve done nothing!”

“Of course you would think you’ve done nothing! For you, you’ve only been in this dimension for a few weeks, but to me, you’ve fundamentally changed everything! You could have left well enough alone! You could have walked away and left him-“ he pointed forcefully at Peter “-in the future where he would have been _fine_ , but you didn’t! You came here and you ruined everything! And now… now you’re going to shocking _pay_ for what you’ve done!”


	24. Destiny Arrives

> Chapter Twenty-Four: Destiny Arrives 

Otto narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t met anyone else from 2099, but one thing that he knew about the guy he knew was that he liked to use the word “shock” as explicit language. “Miguel O’Hara?”

The elderly man smiled. “It took you long enough,” he teased. “I would say I want to hurry this up, but I have all the time in the world.” Otto took several steps back and looked to Peter. He was out cold. The poor man probably didn’t need to be smacked around this much to knock him down, but the CEO had done a bit of overkill with getting rid of Peter.

“Is this where you spend twenty minutes explaining how I ruined your life?” Otto asked. “I was a villain before this happened.” He gestured to his own body. “I know how this works. You monologue for a few minutes while I figure out how to beat you. We exchange a few jokes and eventually I win and everything goes back to normal?”

The CEO laughed softly and then he ran at Otto. His spider-sense went up, but Otto couldn’t react fast enough. He was slammed into the wall behind him. The air was forced from his lungs and before he could regain composure, Miguel slashed him across the face, tearing his mask. He grabbed Otto and hurled him across the room.

The landing was especially harsh, and Otto put his arms to his chest and tried to remain limp until he came to a slamming halt. He groaned. Miguel wasn’t messing around. He put his hand to his torn cheeks. He wasn’t messing around, but he _was_ playing. Otto had spent plenty of time playing with his enemies. Probably too much time. He knew blows that were meant to toy with prey and not to kill instantly. The scary part was that if Miguel wanted it, he’d probably already be dead.

He pushed himself to his hands and knees before slowly rocking back to sit on his legs. “Alright, you don’t want to talk,” he grumbled.

“Oh, I want to talk. I’ve waited so long for this.” He walked towards Otto. He looked like he thought he was in control of this entire situation. “Do you think I want this to end quickly? I want to watch you suffer! I want—”

Otto fired a web at the man’s mouth and another one at the wall behind him. He jumped into the air and propelled him towards Miguel, kicking him back against the wall. “I told you; monologuing isn’t smart.”

The CEO laughed as he stood, wiping his mouth of the blood that came from his split lip. “Clever boy.”

“Boy?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m older than you.”

Otto didn’t bother to argue. It didn’t matter who was older. This was a stupid game to Miguel. He clearly blamed Otto for his life going sideways. Otto hadn’t _meant_ to cause this problem. He had just been trying to save Peter. How was he supposed to know that there was a man in the future who would use this strange adventure to alter the past? Speaking of which… “Where’s Sloan, Miguel?”

“Dead,” he answered with a shrug. He pulled the remains of the webbing off of his cheek. The way he had said it was unnerving. The O’Hara that Otto knew had been worried about him dying; a stranger. O’Hara had no reason to even be bothered by Otto’s death, and it had spooked him. The man in front of him was a cold person who didn’t seem to care about the deaths of others.

“And you…?”

“Killed him.”

Otto nodded. That was to be expected. But there was so much else that didn’t make any sense. Right now, the O’Hara that he knew was stuck in 2020. If the person in front of him was an old man, that meant that he never found a way back to 2099 and had to take the long way back. _But he’s in too good of shape to be that old._ He also didn’t look like he was in his upwards of 80 years. He looked closer to his early sixties or his late fifties; not the age that Miguel should be had he lived the entire time. Without medical interference.

The two men faced one another. “Am I supposed to know what I did wrong?” he asked quietly. “None of this is my fault. You got your revenge. Sloan is dead.” And the last thing that didn’t make sense. O’Hara had said Sloan killed his brother, but Sloan was dead. Sloan died, presumably, in 2020 or 2021, killed by the stranded O’Hara. “You…” he whispered as the realization dawned on him. “ _You_ killed Gabriel.”

Miguel clicked his tongue and pointed at Otto. “Bingo.”

“You went back in time to avenge your brother’s death!” Now he was confused. None of this was making any sense.

Miguel shook his head. “No. I went back in time to save you and to save Gabe from the fate I watched him suffer all those years ago. Or, hours ago if we’re going by your experience. I wanted to fix this world. I wanted everything back to how it was. I was the only one who remembered it how it was before.” He stepped towards Otto. Apparently, now was the time for monologuing, but Otto didn’t want to interrupt him. He wanted to know what was going on here. He looked to Peter to make sure he was breathing before inching towards the wall. The best thing to do now was to not give Miguel an opening to his back.

“But you had the chance to break the cycle,” he argued, “and you killed Gabe anyway.”

“He wasn’t _my_ Gabriel,” the CEO reasoned. “I guess my older self, when I went through it, tried to tell me that as well, but I didn’t want to believe it. It didn’t matter, anyway. A life was taken in cold blood, and Sloan was the one who had done it. Or so I believed.”

“But it was you?” Miguel nodded. Otto shook his head slowly; carefully. How did someone rationalize this? _How did I rationalize it?_ He supposed that it wasn’t much different than his own villainy; but it still didn’t stand to reason that this man had killed the brother he had been so desperate to save. “Why?” was all he could manage to say.

Miguel laughed. “You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” He stepped towards Otto, who tensed. This fight could go downhill fast. Miguel had time to prepare. He had probably been able to research how to beat Spider-man. He was more experienced, and he knew more about Peter Parker than Otto knew about Miguel. He could have spent years training for this one encounter. “I could just kill you and let you die without knowing my tale of woe.”

He had to keep Miguel talking. If he was talking, he wasn’t fighting. Clearly this man had a lot of pent up aggression and anger. He needed someone to talk to; someone who could understand what he was going through. For seventy-nine years, Miguel had been in a world that didn’t know any better. Now he was in front of someone who _did_ know better. These were things he had to get off his chest. “You could,” Otto said nonchalantly. “But who else will listen to you without thinking you’re completely mad? I’m the only one you _can_ tell this story to; the only one who will believe it.”

Miguel smiled. “I suppose I would be remiss to let such a story go to waste.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he laughed. “A part of me didn’t think this day would come. The time stream really is just a loop, isn’t it? I’m only standing here because I traveled back in time to stop Sloan from killing my brother, but it was _I_ who killed him.” He looked off in the distance. Otto was tempted to take aim, but he didn’t know if Miguel had a Spider-sense and if he went in without a plan and didn’t end it in the first blow, the man who was in much better shape and had more control over this battlefield would end it in the second one. “It’s all one _shocking_ loop! And here we are, around and around we go, driven mad by the realization of it all!”

Otto nodded. “That’s the first thing you’ve said that does actually make even a lick of sense.”

Miguel shrugged. “When I got to the past, the portal was destroyed. I waited… Waited for you to get contact back so we could fix the time portal; but you never came!” he walked towards Otto while he got his back to the wall. This man in front of him was unhinged and unpredictable; and that made him dangerous. Nothing was more dangerous than a man who had nothing to lose. “And I was trapped. Sloan was the only one who knew how to fix the time portal. The research I needed to fix it didn’t exist yet.”

“Miles and Peni didn’t help you?” That didn’t sound like either of them. Unless Miguel killed them, too. He doubted it. The insanity he was seeing didn’t happen overnight. Those two were just children and Miguel hadn’t seemed like the kind of person to kill kids.

“They tried, but eventually I sent them back to their worlds. There was no point in keeping them in this one. What could they do?” He stopped several feet in front of Otto. He began calculating the distance while Miguel continued. One wrong move and this was all over. “And then I poured into the research to get home. I worked my way up the Alchemax ranks.” He was watching Otto closely, not giving him enough room to move and plan. He was keeping control of the room and it annoyed Otto to know end. He didn’t like being the one on the defensive.

“Let me guess… it took too long?”

“By the time I figured it out, it was too late. What would be the point?” He shrugged. “I began to realize what had happened. I was never supposed to find a way back. The CEO that I had met… the one that had sent me on this path was my older self. And then I learned my place in this world… in this time stream! _This_ is my destiny!”

Otto scoffed. “You believe in destiny?”

“We are only ever where we’re supposed to be.” He walked until he was within striking distance. Otto tensed his muscles in preparation to lunge. “It’s all one giant loop, and there’s nothing we can do about it! I killed Gabe because that was the role I was meant to play. To set my younger self down the same path I went on! So, one day, he can realize what I realized.”

“Which is?”

Miguel lunged at Otto. He rolled away from the attack and fired webbing at the other Spider-man in an attempt to incapacitate him. Miguel moved faster than Otto would have liked. He couldn’t counter the attacks that came. He was still disoriented and weak from his trip in the time portal.

When he attempted to backflip to avoid a strike, his arm twitched, throwing him off balance. Miguel took advantage of his unbalancing and fired his own webbing to stick Otto’s other hand to the ground. Miguel kicked him hard in the back, sending him to the ground. The awkwardness of the fall tore his shoulder from its socket. He held back an exclamation of pain.

Miguel was on top of him in seconds, using clawed extensions on the costume to tear into Otto’s flesh. His mind went back to what O’Hara had told him about his own death. He kicked Miguel off of him and tore the webbing off his dislocated arm. He then began crawling. There had to be a way to establish the link. If he could tell O’Hara who really killed Gabe and what all this was about, the cycle would be broken. He just had to get to the terminal. There had to be _something_ there.

“Do you know what I realized, Otto?” Miguel asked him. He didn’t bother answering. “I realized that you never contacted me again because you were dead!” Otto continued to ignore him. He’d let that man talk all he wanted. Reestablishing the link was the key. O’Hara needed to know what he became. “Those visions I had as a young man were of your death! And I was the one who killed you! Destiny arrives for all of us, and now it’s here for you!”

 

Miguel and Miles were walking through the halls of Alchemax to look for Sloan. “What do you plan on doing once we find him?” Miles asked.

“First, I’m going to get him to fix the stupid time portal so I can get back to 2099,” he answered. “And once that’s finished, I’m going to drag him back with me and then let the legal system deal with him.” He put the heel of his hand to his forehead. All this would be easier if he hadn’t lost contact with Otto. At least he could see if anything they were doing in 2020 was affecting 2099. Something had to change. If they couldn’t change the past, he didn’t know what he’d do.

“Will that save your brother?” Miles pushed.

Miguel bit his lip. He had told Miles about how his brother died in front of him. Sloan had murdered him and he wasn’t about to let someone get away with that. “In theory, if we take Sloan out of the time stream, then everything that happened in the future won’t actually happen.”

“Won’t that cause a paradox?”

“We’re in new territory,” he admitted. “I’m not 100% sure what will happen.” Thinking about the consequences of what they were doing hurt his head. They didn’t know what would happen if they continued on this path. It seemed harmless enough. They weren’t going to rip the fabric of time and space… He hoped.

Miles looked up at the ceiling, dragging his feet as he walked. The sound of scraping echoed throughout the halls, but no one was coming to get them. Miguel wanted to believe that everything was going to be okay. Sloan was the problem. Once he was gone, everything could go back to normal. Maybe there was a way to reset the time line back to what it had been before Sloan’s meddling. Or maybe he just had to learn to live with this new reality, no matter how hard it was. He looked down at his hands and clenched his fists slowly. All this was Sloan’s fault. The others had just been wanting to save Peter. They would have come to the future, grabbed him, and then left. Sloan ruined everything… and killed his brother.

“Aren’t you worried that this will just make things worse?” Miles continued.

“How long have you been Spider-man, kid?”

Mile shrugged. “Not long. A little under a year. The Peter Parker died in my world and I kind of got dragged into this all pretty quickly. My first real outing was an interdimensional traveling gig.”

Miguel laughed. “Well, at least you got thrown into the world of being a superhero without the pretense that anything we do is remotely sane.”

“Still was a mess.”

“It was,” he said with a nod. “Where do you fall on the no-kill scale?” He didn’t want to bring that up, but something told him that it would be important. He didn’t know how he would react to being face to face with Sloan. He wanted to believe that he could handle it, but a man that had caused this much trouble… did he really deserve to live?

Miles grew more serious. It took him a few minutes before he answered. “I haven’t really had to think about it yet,” he admitted. “My world hasn’t had another big event since Peter’s death. I haven’t had to look at someone and decide if I should kill him or not. I guess I fall on the side of valuing life.”

“It’s a good side to fall on,” Miguel muttered. He sighed. This was impossible. For all they knew, Sloan was long gone. They needed to get back to the time portal and try to fix it. He could use what little knowledge he had to try and get the machine back and running. The question was if he would even jump into the portal if they did get it running. There was no way to test it… not without Otto. _Where is he?_ He thought dejectedly. He didn’t want to believe that Otto was dead. If he was… He shook his head. He couldn’t afford to think like that. Those thoughts would only waste his time.

Their walk down the halls remained silent for quite some time. Neither one of them wanted to acknowledge that the longer they stayed there, the more likely it was that someone unsavory would discover them. Miguel was still injured from his scuffle with Anti-Venom and Miles was green enough not to pose much of a threat to trained guards.

Just as Miguel was about to call off the search party, Miles froze. “What’s up, kid?”

“Spider-sense… You don’t…?”

“Nope.”

Miles motioned Miguel to follow him and he allowed the younger Spider-man to lead them through the halls. Before long, they were standing in a large office. _What an arrogant fool,_ Miguel thought as he spotted their target sitting at the desk at the other end of the hall. Did he think they weren’t going to try and track him down?

“Gentlemen,” Sloan said, standing from the chair. “It took you long enough.”

Miguel scoffed. “So, you wanted to be found?”

He cracked his knuckles. The sound echoed throughout the room. It was infuriating how nonchalant Sloan was being. Did he not think he had committed major crimes against nature by doing any of this? “Do you believe in destiny, Spider-men?” he asked.

“I believe in something, and it ain’t that,” Miguel answered. Miles merely shrugged.

Sloan turned his back to them, angering Miguel even more. He walked to the window of the office and sighed deeply. “I believe in destiny. I believe that we are never where we aren’t supposed to be. Destiny arrives for all of us, gentlemen, and we can do nothing about it. We are only where we’re supposed to be.”

Miguel clenched his fists. “You… you think this is a game, don’t you?”

“Not a game… but an opportunity. _This_ is what I was put on this Earth to do.”

“You do realize the lives you’ve ruined, don’t you?”

“Their sacrifice was for the best,” Sloan said. Miguel narrowed his eyes. What did that mean? That the people Sloan sacrificed for this ridiculous dream were _worth_ it? That Gabe’s death was all just part of the plan? The grand scheme of something called destiny? He turned to the two Spider-men and smiled. “Gentlemen, we should be celebrating!”

“Celebrate?” Miguel hissed. He clenched his fists. “ _Celebrate?”_

Sloan didn’t seem to notice the edge of Miguel’s voice. Either that, or he didn’t care. “Yes, celebrate! We’ve achieved the impossible, gentlemen!” His tone was too jovial for this. People were _dead._ The timestream might be destroyed beyond ever fixing. Sloan hadn’t just destroyed lives, he destroyed the world in a way only a maniac could see as good. “Should I pour you two a drink?”

Miguel lunged, grabbing Sloan’s throat and slamming him against the window, cracking it with the force of the blow. “You want to see destiny?” he shouted, squeezing the man’s throat and cutting off his airway. “Destiny is a farce! The only thing you’re destined to do here is die so you can’t hurt anyone else!”


	25. Is Forever Enough?

Chapter Twenty-Five: Is Forever Enough?

“Miguel!” Miles snapped. This wasn’t what he had signed up for. He had signed up to stop Sloan, not kill him. “Put him down.”

“This isn’t just a normal criminal,” Miguel said. Hs voice was calmer than Miles had been expecting. He was strangling a man, but his voice was extremely calm. The dissonance between the violent action and the placid speech was unsettling. “This is a man who has destroyed the past, present and future!”

Miles shook his head. Did that mean he deserved to die? He hated to admit it, but it probably  _did_  mean that. Some people could be rehabilitated, but this… this crime was greater than any crime he had ever dealt with; probably bigger than any crime any of them had dealt with. But…”We aren’t judge, jury, and executioner,” he reasoned, holding up his hands. “If you do this…”

Miguel released a long breath before dropping Sloan. The old man slid down the cracked glass, coughing and gasping for air. For a few minutes, the only sound in the room was his gasping breath as he tried to get oxygen back into his body. Miguel turned his head to look at Miles. “We need to fix the time portal,” he said. Now that he had made the choice not to kill Sloan, he sounded deflated and tired. Miles couldn’t help but feel bad for him. No matter what was going on with him, he knew he could get back to the life he had left behind. It hurt to even think about not being able to get home. Miguel was trapped here and the only man who could fix the time portal probably wasn’t interested in helping.

Sloan stood slowly, rubbing his throat where Miguel had strangled him. “You think… I’d help you… after that?” he gasped. His voice was raspy after the strangulation. “Forget it!”

Miguel shook his head and turned his back to Sloan. Miles tensed, expecting 2099 to start his attack again, but he didn’t. Instead, he just started walking back towards Miles.

“You and I are going to stay here, Miguel,” he said. “And you will die alone in a time you don’t belong in!”

Miles wanted to tell the old man to shut up. What was the point of bullying someone who could end your life without batting an eye?

“You don’t even know what you did,” Miguel whispered. “And if you did know, you wouldn’t care.”

Sloan stepped towards them. “Why would I? I achieved the impossible! Why does it matter who had to die along the way?”

That seemed to cause something in Miguel to snap. He stopped walking with his foot hovering a few inches off the ground. Miles’ spider-sense went up as Miguel spun. He felt like everything was going in slow motion. Miguel was going to throw that man through the window. He tore off towards the man. He couldn’t let this happen.

 

Otto bit down on his tongue as he dragged himself across the floor. Miguel was playing with him like a cat played with a lizard. His suit was torn and he left a smear of blood wherever he dragged on the floor. Miguel was holding back because he wanted Otto to suffer how he had. Decades of living in a world that didn’t know he existed; that didn’t know he didn’t belong. No one could be expected to maintain sanity in those conditions. He had spent all this time believing that he had killed the man who ruined his life, only to realize that his whole life was a lie. The real miracle here was that this man had been able to have some semblance of a normal life despite it all.

He managed to get himself on his hands and knees, coughing. “Why…” he gasped. “Why do you want him to suffer the same fate?”

Miguel scoffed. “Because he and I are one in the same. I survived, and so will he.”

Otto stared down at the pool that was forming underneath him. Miguel was between him and the terminal. If he had wanted to end this, he would have destroyed the terminal. That would have taken Otto’s hope of fixing any of this; but Miguel wanted him to have hope. IT was more fun to play with someone who thought they had a sliver of hope of winning. Otto had been there. He had been that person who played indiscriminately with his victims; had given them just enough hope to keep them fighting.

“We have the chance to break the cycle!”

“You think the Otto I knew didn’t try this same thing?”

Otto didn’t want to think about it. There was something unsettling about thinking how many times this scene had happened. Was it really all just an endless loop? And if it was, did he have any hope of breaking it? How many times had he been in this situation? How many times had he failed? And what made him think that  _this_  time it would be any different?

He shook his head. He couldn’t think like that. He couldn’t let his mind try to wrap around what was happening here. It would never make any sense and he would just drive himself crazy for his efforts. There was no sanity to be found here. “Maybe he did,” Otto snapped. They were running out of time. For all he knew, Sloan was already dead, sending Miguel down this path. “But I will succeed where he failed!”

“Where  _you_  failed,” Miguel corrected. He sounded so smug and it was infuriating. “You aren’t any different! It’s just a loop! And we’re just here for the ride.”

“I refuse… to believe that…” Otto said through clenched teeth. He didn’t want to accept that their lives were out of their control. It didn’t matter how many times this had happened. This would be the last time. He stood slowly and shakily. Miguel watched him, amused. He was so smug that this would go exactly how it was supposed to. The only problem… Miguel hadn’t seen how this had gone. He knew this encounter was going to happen, but he didn’t know how it ended.

Miguel had been countering every single one of his attacks. He had been preparing for this fight… but he had been preparing to fight Spider-man,  _not_  Doctor Octavius.  _Let’s do this._

With what was remaining of his strength, he turned and ran; but not towards the terminal. There wasn’t much in this room that he could use, but if he had to fight, he needed to stop pretending. He didn’t even bother with tracking his opponent. This would either work, or it wouldn’t, Miguel be damned.

He jumped on the wall, pushing back any pain and weakness that he was feeling as he scrambled to some thick wired. He couldn’t afford to think about that. Things had to be done. He had to save the future. He tore the wires off the wall and coiled them around his arms. It wouldn’t simulate his old fighting style well, but it might be good enough to trip up Miguel.

He used webbing to extend the reach other thick wires and he threw them towards Miguel like a whip. The Spider-man of the future dodged just as Otto had wanted him to. He was fast, but Otto was quicker on the mind. He needed the man on the move. He wasn’t looking for a win.

Once Miguel dodged far enough away, Otto hurled the wires at him, firing webbing to trip him up. He tore towards the terminal, slipping on the blood that he had left behind. He practically fell onto the terminal. “I need…” he gasped.

A hologram shimmered in front of him. “Hello,” it greeted.

What did he call it? That word? “A… a Chronal Link…!” Otto demanded as it came back to him.

“Certainly.” The dissonance between her calm and accommodating voice and the chaotic desperation in Otto’s was unsettling. He tried not to dwell on it. It didn’t matter. “Target?”

“Miguel O’Hara, 2020!”

“Of course.”

Suddenly his head exploded in pain, forcing his vision to go black, and then white. “O’Hara!” he shouted before his vision even came back. There wasn’t a moment to lose. “I’m here!” Maybe that was all he needed to hear; just that hope wasn’t lost. Hope was a powerful thing and he prayed that it was enough.

There was a moment of silence. Otto closed his useless eyes, squeezing them tightly as the pain in his head began receding. Was he too late? He couldn’t be! The silence seemed to last forever, surrounding him.

The pain came swiftly and without warning, radiating from his back. His spider-sense had tried to warn him, but had been overwhelmed by everything happening, including the Chronal Link. For a moment, everything froze. It was as if time itself couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening. Otto could feel the metal in his back. Miguel hadn’t severed his spinal column. Either he wasn’t aiming to, or he just had poor aim. He looked down shakily at the metal rod that was impaling him through the back and into the terminal.

_“Otto…?”_

He smiled as he slumped down on the terminal. Around him, things began to shift. At first, he didn’t know if that was his injured and fading mind playing tricks on him, then Miguel entered his vision, flickering in and out of existence. He didn’t have much time. “Where’s Sloan?” His voice was weak and he couldn’t get in enough air to waste on pleasantries.

_“What?”_

“Is he dead?”

_“Not yet.”_

He didn’t have enough time to explain. Miguel’s older version was still there, flickering like a corrupted video. He was still a possibility. What could he say? He wasn’t good at emotional speeches. Even if he was, he didn’t have time. “You… you’re not alone,” he said at length, gasping for air and pushing the words out. “Don’t let your anger get the best of you.”

_“What are you--?”_

“No matter what happens…”

Miguel was running towards him to shut him up. His time was up. _“Otto?”_

_“Don’t become a monster…”_

Miguel held Sloan over the 100 story drop by the throat. Wind blew, rustling the old man’s lab coat. “What are you talking about?” No answer. “Otto!” Miles was several feet away, keeping his distance because one wrong move meant the man’s death. There was no answer coming from the Chronal Link.

“What did he say?” Miles asked, keeping his voice calm as if he were talking to a wounded and caged animal.

“Don’t become a monster,” Miguel whispered. He looked up at Sloan and his grip on the man’s throat tightened slightly. He didn’t sound like he was doing well. What was happening in the future?

“Miguel?” He took a step back. What did that mean?

 

_“Otto?”_

He couldn’t answer; couldn’t do anything as Miguel ran at him and lunged. He closed his eyes, having done everything he could have done. No one could expect him to save the future singlehandedly. The rest was up to O’Hara. He’d have to make this choice.

He braced for an attack that never came. As he opened his eyes for one last look, he saw the old man coming for him flicker and fade, his mouth open in a silent scream. The terminal that had been holding Otto up disappeared as well as the metal rod in his body. He crashed to the ground on his side as blood poured from his body. The room he was in changed before his fading eyes. It went from a strange time portal room to an abandoned office. Instead of the harsh metallic décor, it turned to old style hardwood. He laughed softly as the metal floor turned to carpet. Peter was still unconscious, but he remained there without flickering out of existence. The ones in the eye of the storm could observe changes without being affected.

He closed his eyes with sigh. This wasn’t how he had wanted it to end, bleeding out in some abandoned room without anyone knowing he was even there. The fact that he had failed didn’t even register at first. Peter was still in the future. He had dragged Miles and Peni into this stupid mess and had failed to do what he had set out to do. He had told Anna Maria that he’d be back in a minute. Was she still waiting for him? What would happen to his world without a Spider-man? Surely that wouldn’t be the worst fate for them, but no one there would know what happened to him. All of Peter’s loved ones would never know how he met his end. It was worse to think about the people who would never stop looking; the ones who would never find closure.

Footsteps roused him slightly. He cracked his eyes open. “He’s here!” someone shouted. “I need medical _now!_ ” Suddenly the room that was so quiet was full of people hurrying in. The someone knelt in front of him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to be fine…” he was assured.

Otto closed his eyes again. As his mind faded away, he realized that he recognized the face of the person. It was familiar, but nowhere near as harsh…

 

When he opened his eyes again, all that he was aware of was the beeping of monitors and the chill of the hospital room. He groaned softly and closed his eyes against the harsh whiteness of the walls. “You gave us quite the scare…” O’Hara said softly.

Otto opened his eyes and turned to the old man sitting on the other side of the room in a chair facing the foot of his bed. “What happened?”

“Well, I couldn’t get Sloan to create a time portal to get me back, so I took the long way around. Figured eventually you’d show up in that room. I really wasn’t expecting those injuries, though. Someone did a number on you.” He stood and walked to the foot of the bed. “You coded twice and you’ve been unconscious for weeks. What happened?”

Otto laughed. He didn’t want to tell the man. How would he handle knowing that _he_ had done this to him? 

But somehow... he knew that O'Hara already knew. He didn't know how. Maybe O'Hara had worked it out in the years he had to think about it. Maybe he had always known. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was capable of this. "It's complicated," Otto said eventually. What else could he say? That O'Hara went mad from the realization that he lived in a world where he didn't belong? That didn't want him? That didn't even know something was wrong to begin with.  
  
"It was me," O'Hara whispered, staring down at his hands. "Another version of me. I called for you for a while, hoping you'd say something. You never did. I played the scenario in my head again and again. What you said to me... if that was the one thing you had to say, clearly I had become the monster you feared."  
  
Otto closed his eyes. Already this conversation was wearing him out. He knew what he should say; to assure the man that the person who had attacked him wasn't O'Hara... but he was, and that perhaps was the scariest part. "We don't know what we're capable of until we do it," he said evenly. "You resolved it. You didn't become what you could have... what any of us could one day become."  
  
"I almost crossed that line," he argued.  
  
"But you didn't... and that's something you should celebrate. Holding back is hard. Wishing you had is harder." He didn't know how to talk about this. O'Hara had been wrestling with these demons for years now. There was nothing Otto could say to make it better... or worse. "Where's Peter?" He didn't want to continue this conversation. There were things that were better left unsaid at this point. There was nothing to gain from O'Hara learning about the atrocities he had committed and the fact that he worshipped at the alter of destiny.  
  
How many times had that loop happened? And were they the first to break out of it?  
  
"He's fine," Miguel answered, taking Otto's hint to stop asking questions that would bring no one any peace to know the answers. "He's ready to go home."  
  
"Home?" He hadn't even allowed himself to consider the possibility of going home. Of course, not long ago, he hadn't even considered the possibility of him waking up. "What do you mean?"  
  
O'Hara smiled. Otto didn't like how amused he looked. He didn't like not being the one with all the answers. He suddenly felt like a child in this world. "Of course. I spent a long time recreating Sloan's research and I made a time portal to get you and Peter back... back before any of this could happen. Back right after the explosion that killed him and sent him to the future."  
  
"Erase all of this by putting Peter back?" Otto asked. "That's... a big task, O'Hara... you'd be sacrificing this future."  
  
He looked around and smiled. It was an old and tired smile. "It could be better," he said. "But we won't be connecting this time line anymore. This is a one way trip with the link severed. I'm essentially sending you back to create a branching timeline. Let Peter have the life he should have had and give the Miguel of your world the chance to have a life without the knowledge of any of this." It was a nice dream to have; to not have to worry about the atrocities of the past... or future? He wished beyond reason that he could forget what had happened. He had spent time dying before, but bleeding out in a cold room was an experience that he didn't know how to understand. "What do you say?"  
  
"I'm going to rest..." he said softly. He'd worry about getting home later. Apparently, they still had all the time in the world.  
  
  
It was another several weeks before he was able to get up and moving well enough to take the journey through the time portal. As the doctors came to sign his discharge papers, he stood at the bedside, staring down at what should have been his deathbed. Usually he would be packing, but the only clothes he had were the ones that O'Hara had given him to replace the suit the deranged Miguel had destroyed.  
  
"You ready?"  
  
Otto lifted his head and he couldn't stop a soft smile from forming. Without the mask, he hated that his emotions were readable. Peter had recovered much quicker than he had and had been spending time in the future with O'Hara sightseeing. No one cared about the ramifications of letting a time traveler see too much of the future. "You could have gone back whenever you wanted," he said with a shrug. His indifferent tone didn't match the tired grin on his face, though.  
  
Peter's smile was more genuine. "I could have, but I figured we started this together, so we should end it."  
  
"We'll be the only ones who will remember any of this," Otto mused as he walked towards the door. Peter nodded slowly. It was something to think about; being the only people in the entire universe to know that something had been amiss, but all was well now. What an odd thought.  
  
Peter clearly had no intention of musing over such things. "What about your time? If we're going back to right after the explosion, and you go back to your dimension, won't you be too early?"  
  
"Approximately eight months too early," he confirmed.  
  
"What's your plan?"  
  
Otto shrugged. He tried to brush it off like it meant nothing, but knowing that he would have to kill 8 months felt like the worst kind of punishment. "I guess I'll just live in your world for a while," he said with a tone that he hoped indicated that he wasn't worried.  
  
"It would throw everyone off having two Spider-men running around."  
  
Otto laughed. "I don't plan on being Spider-man. I need a vacation from all of this."  
  
"Lying in bed wasn't a vacation?"  
  
Otto didn't dignify that with an answer. Instead, he sighed and looked forward. The world was much brighter than the future he had experienced. It still wasn't perfect, but it was an improvement. There was a car waiting for them outside the hospital and they were driven to Alchemax without much conversation.  
  
O'Hara was waiting for them and he smiled once they came. He led them, explaining the mechanics behind the device that they would be using. Otto ignored it for the most part. Instead, he let his mind wander to the things that may not matter as much. He was tired and ready to go home.  
  
By the time he finally let himself focus on the conversation at hand, the portal was open and O'Hara had finished his goodbyes to Peter. Otto turned to the old man and sighed. He wasn't good at the mushy stuff. Being Spider-man was one thing. Being Peter Parker was another thing entirely. "I guess---"  
  
"Thank you," O'Hara said, cutting him off. "For everything."  
  
"It's nothing."  
  
He shook his head. "No... it wasn't nothing. You saved my life."  
  
"Alright, don't get emotional." He held out his hand and O'Hara took it firmly. To felt odd to depart from someone he had shared a mental link from. The physical contact felt insufficient and odd after the Chronal Link.  
  
"I'll never forget you..."  
  
"And I wish I could forget you..." he didn't mean it, though. He'd never admit it, but he would miss the man greatly. He felt that O'Hara had been cheated, but he had assured Otto that everything was okay and that he held no ill will. He wouldn't trade the life he had been forced to live for anything. "Good-bye, O'Hara..."  
  
  
It had felt like a lifetime since he had stood at this doorstep. After arriving just after the explosion, Peter and Otto had worked to get the people injured out, including finding Harry in all the mess. After that, Peter had worked to get himself looking presentable before he found himself standing at MJ's doorstep. The last she had heard of him, he was giving her his final words. She probably thought he was dead. Their entire world probably thought he was dead.  
  
Otto had elected not to be there when they reunited. It wasn't his place, he said. Peter sighed and steeled himself as he aimed a web shot at the doorbell.  
  
He waited, shifting his weight from each foot. Eventually the door opened and there she was... even with her puffy eyes and red cheeks, she was still beautiful. She gasped softly when she noticed who had rung her doorbell. "Peter..." she breath. He knew things wouldn't be fixed in one day. They still had a long way to go.  
  
"Hi..." Before he could get another word out, she ran to him and practically threw herself into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Things wouldn't be fixed overnight, but this was a good start...

  
  
She didn't like it. She didn't like that he was leaving. She didn't like that he was messing with things he couldn't possibly understand. She didn't like that he had poured everything into his work based on an unproven theory.  
  
She crossed her arms. "See you in a minute," he said and smiled back at her before he and the other Spider-man disappeared. She turned to the clock as if she were about to hold him to that. Whatever happened... she hoped he accomplished all his goals. She wanted him to succeed because he had poured his heart and soul into this. She didn't want him to do it, but she didn't want him to fail either.  
  
The minute passed... and then another. She wrung her hands together. A few minutes? What would happen to him in that time? Would he come back? He had promised he would. This endeavor... this mad endeavor...  
  
"Anna Maria..."  
  
She gasped and spun towards the doorway. The man standing before her wasn't the man that had just left. He looked older... and more tired. A lot could happen in a minute, it seemed. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She wanted to hear all about it... all about what had happened.  
  
"Hi..." he grumbled. His uncertainty was kind of adorable. She was so used to seeing him take control of any given situation. Seeing him like this was a nice change of pace.  
  
She clicked her tongue and made a show of looking at the clock. It had been five minutes. She huffed and turned back to him with a long sigh.  
  
"You're late."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, wow... I can't believe it's done! This story... man this story had a lot for me! I really, REALLY hope y'all enjoyed it! 
> 
> If you liked it, I reccomend reading some of my other fics if you have time! 
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you thought and I really hope you guys have a good day, and thank you so much for reading and enjoying this story!


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